


To Be Strong

by SayakaM



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-03-20 15:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 171,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3656163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SayakaM/pseuds/SayakaM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ino discovers Shikamaru doesn't think she is strong enough to rely on, she accepts a mission to leave Konoha and gain enough strength that he has to acknowledge her. But with that strength comes a cost, one that Ino may not be willing to pay. The story has supporting cast from xxxHoLiC and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is already finished on ff.net, so I will transfer the chapters over as I can. If anyone is interested in reading this in its entirety without waiting for me to upload to this site, you may find it there.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. They belong to their respective creators.

The crisp, cool air, the pure snow that fell from the sky, the ice-skating contests, Yamanaka Ino loved it all. In her opinion, winter was the best season of all, even if she did have to dress in heavy layers of clothing. Sure, spring was nice, too, since all the flowers bloomed, but the pollen always made her allergies act up. She was amazed that she could work in her parents’ flower shop when they needed her, though she felt like dying of a massive migraine when she finished up for the night. This morning the first snow fell, and she woke up to a winter wonderland. Outside her window she could already hear the neighborhood children playing in the snow before classes began. Sitting up in bed, she unlatched her window and opened it, allowing the cold breeze to caress her skin. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of winter.

At length, she swung her legs out from underneath her warm comforter and stood, stretching. _No one will make me get up, so I have to make myself,_ she thought as she glided over to her closet. At eighteen years old, she had been living alone for two years, but she would still wake up on occasion to find her parents making themselves at home in her apartment and doing the same things they had been doing when she still lived with them. Sometimes her mother would come over just to wake her up, which annoyed Ino to no end, especially when she came home late from a mission and had been looking forward to sleeping in.

The phone rang, and Ino muttered under her breath as she pulled her shirt over her head and fixed it so it fit the way she wanted before picking up. “Hello?” she said, running a brush through her platinum hair.

“Ino!” Sakura’s voice squealed at the other end.

Ino jerked the phone away from her ear with a hiss. “Hi, Sakura,” she said when she regained some of her hearing. “Why are you calling me at,” she glanced at her clock, “seven-thirty in the morning?”

“Did you forget?” Sakura sounded incredulous. “The results are in today!”

The blond kunoichi gasped. “That’s right!” Today the results of the Jounin exam were posted, and as much as Ino wanted to run and see if she made it, she was also afraid. For the past two years she had tried to obtain the Jounin rank, and each time she failed. Maybe, just maybe, this time would be different.

“Ino? Ino, are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I’ll meet you in a few minutes.” She hung up and rushed through her morning ritual of freshening up, then grabbed a plum as she ran out the door. The snow stuck to her coat and her hair as she ran to the building where the Hokage resided.

As she ran past Sakura’s house, her friend joined her. Glancing over she saw her friend wearing an identical expression to her own. “Do you think we passed?” Sakura asked.

Unlike Ino, this was Sakura’s second time attempting the Jounin exam. Even when their teammates tried to convince her, she refused, saying that she wanted to focus on her Medic-nin skills before trying for the Jounin status. Now she and Ino were the only ones left from their class who were still Chuunin. “I hope so,” answered Ino. _I feel good about this one. Please let me pass._

“They only raise a few Chuunin to Jounin,” said Sakura, “but I think Shishou will let a few more get promoted this time. She’s been complaining that we don’t have enough Jounin to take the new Genin out for training. Now she’s making all the Jounin take on a team unless they’re out on a dangerous mission right now or are going soon.”

Ino knew her friend was babbling to keep from exploding, so she didn’t pay much attention to what she was saying. At the pace they were going, she wouldn’t be able to keep talking for long.

She was right. By the time they arrived at the Hokage’s office they were both out of breath, and Sakura was wheezing. They entered the heated interior of the building and stopped to warm up and catch their breath. Sakura pushed back her hood, revealing a flushed face from the exertion of running and also from the cold wind. Sakura did not like winter at all, Ino knew. Her friend preferred spring and summer because of the warm weather. “You okay?” asked Ino. “Your nose could rival Rudolph’s for brightness. Maybe Santa Claus will hire you to pull his sleigh instead.”

Sakura squeaked and covered her red nose with a mittened hand. “You know I don’t do well in the cold,” she muttered. “Let’s go see where Shishou posted the results.”

Since Sakura knew this place better than she did, Ino followed her through hallways and doors leading to more hallways until they reached a billboard that was already surrounded by people of all ages. Ino recognized some of them as other participants in the exam, so they must have arrived at the right place. At her side, Sakura made a small sound and hugged herself. “I’m afraid to look,” she said.

“Me too,” Ino responded. _I don’t want to look for my name and not find it again._

They stood behind the crowd for a few minutes just shifting their weight and listening to the sounds of disappointment and jubilation around them. Giving herself a shake, Sakura looked past the crowd to the board that everyone was staring at and said, “I can’t wait anymore. Want me to look for you?”

Ino nodded, and her friend pushed her way into the crowd to the names up front. Patience and Ino didn’t tend to keep the same company, but now she wasn’t in a hurry for her friend to return. _We’ve both known failure, so now it’s time we learned success._

A familiar squeal came from somewhere in the crowd, and Ino smiled. _So she made it. Good for her. Now all that’s left is my turn._

Because Ino had been more familiar with the exam than Sakura, she felt a small amount of relief in knowing that her friend had passed. If Sakura could pass after only trying twice, surely Ino passed as well. Now she couldn’t wait to see Sakura so she could confirm what Ino felt would be a favorable outcome. However, when her friend rejoined her, Sakura’s face didn’t reflect any of the joy that her earlier squeal had. Now Ino was concerned. _Maybe I was wrong. I thought she passed…_ “Well, did you find you name?” she asked. “Did you pass?”

Sakura nodded, her expression remaining sad and…pitying? “I passed,” she said.

“Good for you! Did you find mine?”

Her pink-haired friend’s eyes definitely held pity. “I’m so sorry, Ino,” she said. “I looked three times at the lists. Your name wasn’t on there.”

Ino felt the ground drop beneath her feet. “What?”

“I’m so sorry.” Sakura looked like she was about to cry, which didn’t make sense. She passed, after all. Why would she cry because her best friend hadn’t passed the test for the third year in a row?

“Let me see.” The blonde pushed people out of her way to get to the list. The number of names on it, though longer than in previous years, was short; only twenty Chuunin made it to the Jounin level. There near the top of the list sat Haruno Sakura’s name, but no matter how long she looked, Yamanaka Ino never appeared anywhere. Her heart sank, and her legs followed, much to the annoyance of everyone else crowded around. “I…I failed. Again.”

From behind, hands pulled her up and away from the other people. “Let’s get out of here,” said Sakura, the one responsible for getting her away from the list. “Come on, we’ll go get something to eat.”

_How could this happen again? I prepared for that exam all year, and I still failed. What am I missing?_ Not even the snow and cold could bring her out of her stupor. She could hear Sakura talking to her, but her mind wouldn’t wrap around the words and give them meaning. Sakura passed, but she hadn’t? Sakura hadn’t done as much training as she had; what had happened?

An absence of the cold brought Ino out of her circular thoughts. She found herself sitting opposite Sakura at one of the new salad restaurants that just opened a few months ago close to the Hokage Tower. Seeing that Ino wasn’t in a state to do anything for herself, Sakura had removed her outer coat and placed it on the back of her chair for her. “The menu looks good so far,” Sakura said as she leafed through it. “They import these from the Water Country, but I’ve heard that these are the best salads around.” She handed Ino a menu. “See for yourself.”

Ino did as she was told, but the words swam around on the page. Sakura noticed that she still wasn’t able to concentrate. “If you want, I can talk to Shishou and see if she’ll go over it again.”

The blonde desperately wanted to say yes, but they both knew how that would end. “No, it wouldn’t be fair to the other contestants,” she said, shaking her head. _She would never agree to do something like that anyway._

The rest of the day Sakura tried to keep her mind off her failure, but Ino couldn’t get past it. She couldn’t even get into shopping, and Sakura took her to her favorite shops! Last year, they both had failed, but they were able to pick themselves up and vow to try again by the end of the day. “Sakura, why didn’t I pass?” she asked as her hand lifted a purse up for a closer inspection, though her eyes didn’t register what it was seeing. “What qualities am I missing?”

The pink-haired kunoichi frowned. “I don’t know,” she replied.

“I’m dedicated. I know I don’t have much physical strength compared to some other shinobi, but my teammates could still rely on me. I know they relied on me, and I pulled my weight when we were out on missions.”

“I know that, Ino,” Sakura assured her. “Maybe you tripped or made a minor mistake and they took off too many points.”

Store after store, Sakura and Ino went through the same conversation. The blonde couldn’t get past her newest failure, and Sakura didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. She didn’t know if there was any way to make her better save getting Hokage-sama to change her mind.

Night had almost fallen when Sakura walked Ino back to her apartment. “Do you want me to stay with you tonight?” asked Sakura as Ino looked for her house key. “I don’t need to do anything early tomorrow unless Shishou calls me for something.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” Ino managed a weak smile. “Just let me get over the shock, and I’ll be good as new tomorrow.”

“If you’re sure…” Sakura didn’t look convinced.

Waving her hand as if to blow away evil spirits floating around, the blonde kunoichi pulled up a brighter smile than before to assure Sakura that she spoke the truth. “I’m sure. Don’t let me drag you down; I know you want to celebrate with Naruto, Sai, and Kyle.” Dr. Rondart Kyle was Sakura’s new paramour; she had rescued him on a mission a few months ago, and when she returned to Konoha, he had come with her and never left. Naruto and Rock Lee weren’t fond of him, and their dislike grew even more when Kyle and Sakura moved in together, but no one else had a problem with the mild-mannered doctor. The doctor tried getting to know Sakura’s teammates better, but Naruto would have none of that, going out of his way to avoid the man.

Sakura grinned. “I haven’t seen Naruto or Sai much since they got promoted, but now maybe Shishou will put us on the same missions again.”

Ino watched her friend wave good-bye, then entered her apartment, trying to drown her jealousy. She didn’t even have a man she was interested in, and both Shikamaru and Chouji had achieved Jounin status a long time ago. Because she was still Chuunin, she didn’t ever see them anymore except if they met by chance grocery shopping or they passed one another on the streets. The only time she saw both of them at the same time occurred twice a year, and it happened like clockwork. Half an hour after Sakura left, her doorbell rang. Sure enough, Shikamaru and Chouji stood on her front doorstep. Yes, each time she failed the exam, they would come to her apartment and take her out, much like Sakura had done earlier, but they wouldn’t go shopping.

“Let’s go to Yakiniku Q,” said Chouji. He always believed that eating barbeque would cheer up even the gloomiest day, and Ino had started to believe that, even if it was just because she got to see her Genin team again.

The three of them set off on their quest for barbeque, Chouji leading the way followed by Ino, leaving Shikamaru to silently bring up the rear. Neither of them said anything about the Jounin results, but she knew that they knew; they wouldn’t be here to comfort her otherwise. Instead, Chouji talked on and on about his new recipes, both the successful ones and the ones that made him unable to eat anything for days, a true tragedy. With each story her mood lifted until her previous jealousy of Sakura had dissipated. The stories continued while they sat at their usual spot and waited for the meat to cook, and the two of them would even get their genius friend to tell a story or two. He always gave in when Ino used her puppy eyes.

When the meat was cooked enough, they paused the talking to eat. However, the silence didn’t last. After Chouji swallowed his fifth slice of barbeque, he looked at Ino and asked, “So, how has life been treating you?”

Ino paused, remembering earlier that morning. “Except for failing again, I’m fine,” she said, her voice more subdued than it had been a few minutes before. “I guess I’m the only one left of the Rookie Nine that’s still in the village and still a Chuunin.”

“Don’t worry about it, Ino,” Shikamaru said as he picked up another slice of meat with his chopsticks. “You’ll get there eventually.”

“Yeah,” agreed Chouji. “I failed the first two times I tried it.”

“But this is my fifth time. You got it on your third try, Chouji, and Shikamaru got it on his first try.” She sighed and loosened her death grip on her chopsticks before she broke them and got splinters in her hand. “It’s just that I trained for this ever since I failed last time, and I have nothing to show for it. No matter what I do, it’s not good enough.”

She missed the glare that Shikamaru sent at Chouji for bringing her to this state again. “Um, I’m sure that Hokage-sama will promote you next time,” Chouji said. “She might only be able to promote a few Chuunin, and you were the next person in line.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Shikamaru cut in. “You’re still Ino, and you’ll stay that way whether you’re a Chuunin or a Jounin.”

Chouji vigorously nodded his agreement, and Ino smiled at her two former teammates. “Thanks, guys,” she said, biting down on another piece of meat. It meant a lot to her, especially since Shikamaru, the laziest ninja in existence, and Chouji were going out of their way to make her feel better. They could have been relaxing on one of their rare days off, but instead they were here with her. It gave her a warm feeling inside that she didn’t have very often since Asuma died and the other two went their separate ways.

They stayed at their table, just talking, even after the meat had long since disappeared. Most of the time was spent reminiscing when they were still a team, and a wave of nostalgia hit Ino. She did love her teammates; they were special to her, and she missed them. Even if Asuma was already gone, she at least had them, even if she didn’t see them very often. Chouji finished another one of his cooking stories that didn’t end with a success, and the mistake was so uncharacteristic of Chouji that even Shikamaru laughed with them at Chouji’s expense. Ino smiled at the two boys sitting across the table from her. Yes, she did miss them and their times here with Asuma. It was the perfect pick-me-up for her awful day earlier.  Sakura tried, and while Ino did appreciate her effort, she couldn’t get beyond that she had failed while Sakura passed, and nothing Sakura could have done would have made her feel better.

When it was closing time, they left and walked back to Ino’s apartment complex. She linked arms with them, much to Shikamaru’s dismay, and skipped along with them. Shikamaru was a drag, but at least Chouji humored her and kept pace. They arrived at her door before too long, and she let go of their arms. “Thanks for today, guys,” she said, and she meant it. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you two.”

“Tch,” muttered Shikamaru, “you’re so troublesome, Ino.”

The slender shadow-user turned to leave, but Chouji grabbed his arm and said, “Shikamaru and I have a break tomorrow. Why don’t we hang out then?”

Both Shikamaru and Ino looked at him, Ino pleased and Shikamaru unpleasantly surprised. “I’d love that!” Ino exclaimed, but then caught sight of Shikamaru’s face. “Unless you have something else planned already.” It wasn’t like her to be so considerate of others, but she wasn’t the same as she had been three years ago, and she had learned some manners. Besides, for all she knew, he could have planned to spend the day with his Significant Other, though it seemed too troublesome for him to be in a relationship with someone.

Shikamaru sighed and scratched his head. “I was going to catch up on lost sleep tomorrow, but I guess that’s not going to happen now.”

“Nope,” answered Chouji, a cheerful smile on his face. He turned back to Ino. “We’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning. Have a good night.”

She watched them leave, Shikamaru sauntering away while Chouji bounced. It was his hair; every time Chouji took a step, his thick hair lifted into the air and came back down, only to jump back up, and it made him look like he was bouncing down the sidewalk. Shikamaru’s slow gait juxtaposed Chouji’s bounce and made them seem as different as night and day. Shaking her head, she smiled and closed the door.

A loud knocking on her front door woke Ino. “Go away,” she muttered and turned over. However, the incessant knocking didn’t cease, so she threw on a bathrobe over her pajamas and opened the door to reveal Chouji wearing his civilian clothes. “Why are you here so early?” she asked as she covered her eyes to keep the sun from entering them.

“It’s eight-thirty,” he said. “I told you I’d be here in the morning.”

“You said ‘we’,” she muttered, though she allowed him to enter. “Where’s Shikamaru?”

“He didn’t answer the door, so he probably isn’t awake yet. We’ll get him after you’re ready.”

She left him in the kitchen while she went to get dressed. When she came back, she found a delicious-smelling meal awaiting her. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” her chubby friend said as he flipped a pancake over in a pan.

“It’s fine,” she assured him. _There goes this week’s diet, along with the past month’s._ “You are going to help me eat this, right?”

“Of course.”

On the table sat enough food to feed Ino for the next few days, but she knew that none of it would still be there when they were finished. She helped herself to a small amount of eggs and would have stopped there except so much remained. After failing to restrain herself, she put a slice of regular and Canadian bacon on her plate and tried not to think that she was a cannibal; her name did mean pig, after all, and Sakura made sure to point that out on a frequent basis. And she did have a weakness for bacon; if only it wasn’t so fattening!

“Are we going to get Shikamaru after this?” she asked. “Or are we stopping in the middle of eating so he can help?”

Chouji chuckled and added a layer of strawberry jam to his buttered toast. “He wouldn’t wake up, so we’ll get him after this. It’s his fault he didn’t get up in time to eat with us, but I did make him something.” He nodded to a basket, which Ino recognized as one of the few that sat on the top of her cabinets. “It’s only right. If I don’t take this to him, he won’t eat.”

“Do you usually make breakfast for him?” She kept her tone neutral.

“No, I don’t have time,” her friend laughed. “When I find myself in Konoha at the same time as him, I try to bring him something. He forgets to feed himself, you know. Thinks it’s too troublesome to cook for himself, or even pick up the phone and order take-out. But he’s always so busy that I’ve only been able to bring him a few meals.”

“He thinks everything’s troublesome.” _So they can still find time to see each other._ Ino knew they made time to see her, too, but she had a feeling that Chouji meant more times than that. A lot more times, if she wasn’t mistaken. She knew they had been drifting apart from her, but she thought that it had been the same for them also.

“Ino?”

She realized that Chouji had said something, and with difficulty she pushed aside this new revelation for further pondering for a later time. She wouldn’t let it ruin today, at least. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Can you repeat that?”

“I said that the ponds have frozen enough that it’s safe for skating. Did you want to go by there today?”

Her face lit up. “I didn’t know it was that cold yet.”

“It had a little help from a few visiting ninja from the Hidden Mist village, and I know you love ice-skating. This is your day, and we’ll do what you want, no matter how much Shikamaru complains.”

“Thank you.”

Ino looked down in surprise when her fork scraped nothing off her plate. Nothing of her breakfast remained, and the rest of the table was just as empty. “Did we really eat all that?” she asked. “It was full a few minutes ago.”

Chouji smiled. “We finished it. You ate three plates of eggs, two slices of toast, five pieces of bacon and four slices of Canadian bacon.”

The kunoichi gasped. “ _I_ ate all that?” She was horrified, but the fullness in her stomach told her that he wasn’t lying. _There goes my last year of dieting._

Her childhood friend found this hilarious. “You should see your face!” he chortled. “You’ll look good with more meat on your bones.”

“I have to work this off!” she cried. “Chouji, we’re doing a lot of walking today!”

He groaned, but he did say that this was her day. After helping wash up the used dishes he watched Ino settle the basket in the crook of her arm, then followed her out the door to Shikamaru’s apartment. The snow floated down, and Ino resisted the urge to play in the snowbanks like a small child. Besides, Shikamaru’s food would get cold, and it wouldn’t do to waste Chouji’s cooking.

Because Ino had never been to Shikamaru’s place, she had to follow Chouji. To her surprise, it was close to where she lived, but she had never known that because she’d never seen him near that area, even in their infrequent run-ins. They arrived at the door a little past nine, and Ino knocked three times. Each knock was loud enough to wake the dead, but they received no response from the other side. Ino frowned. “Shikamaru!” she called and knocked again. “It’s time to go! Shikamaru!”

He still didn’t answer. Turning to Chouji, Ino said, “We’ll have to go in a different way. Wait here.”

Handing the basket over, she slid around and walked to the other side of the building. “Hey, Ino!” she heard Chouji call after her, but she ignored it.

_I’m glad he’s too lazy to get a second-story apartment,_ she thought as she eyed the window and balcony above his. _Makes my job easier._

Leaping over the rail that surrounded the small, concrete balcony, she felt under the rug right by the door, wincing at how dirty it was, and pulled the key out of the pouch that attached it to the rug. For a genius, he had little imagination when it came to mundane things. His parents’ house key was hidden in the same exact spot and in the same way. Maybe old habits die hard, or else it was too troublesome to think of a more creative way of hiding a key. Unlocking the door took no time, and she slipped inside. “Wow, not bad,” she said as she looked around.

He had moved at the same time she did, but as he had already been a Jounin for two years prior, she and Shikamaru had fallen out of contact, so all she knew was that he had moved, not where. No moving boxes lay around the floor, so someone must have helped him move and gotten rid of the boxes for him; there’s no way he did that on his own. The rooms had little furnishings, but since a bachelor lived here, it didn’t surprise her. A few pictures hung on the walls, but those had to be the work of his mother. The place didn’t have a lived-in feel, though that was probably because he didn’t come home often. Hokage-sama sent him out on more and more missions, and she knew that he was out of Konoha more often than he wasn’t.

The apartment was small, and the front door was only a little ways from the back. Ino crossed the distance between the two and unlocked the door so Chouji could come inside out of the cold. As soon as the door opened, her chubby teammate bustled in and sat down in one of Shikamaru’s few chairs. “C-c-could you put this on the t-table?” he asked, his teeth chattering. He extended the shaking hand that held the breakfast basket.

“Sure,” she said. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “I’ll be f-fine,” he assured her. “I just need to warm up first.”

“Okay, you stay there, and I’ll find Shikamaru.”

Unlike a house, an apartment only had a few rooms that a sleeping person could be. And since only one person lived here, she found what she was looking for in the master bedroom. Buried beneath a pile of blankets, the only part of him that was visible was his hair. “Shikamaru,” Ino said. “Come on, it’s time to get up.”

Not a sound came from the bed. “Wake up,” she repeated. Walking over to the bed, she sat down next to him and shook his arm. He moaned and shifted, but he didn’t remove the covers or make any other motion that looked like he was moving.

“Don’t make me make you get up.”

No response, and she sighed. “You brought this on yourself.” Gripping the edge of the blankets, she pulled them off her friend.

Ino could see all the muscles in his torso contract as the cold air touched his bare skin. His eyes snapped open, and he gasped. “Ino!” he hissed as he tried to bury himself in the covers he could reach.

“You do need to get up,” she told him. “Chouji and I are waiting for you, and Chouji even made you breakfast. You’d better hurry before it gets too cold to eat.”

He grumbled under his breath and glared at her, but he relinquished his place on the bed and stood. His muscles shuddered as the cold replaced the heat of the blankets. “You haven’t been eating right,” said Ino, studying him. “I can see your bones.”

Shikamaru paused in the act of scratching his head and looked over his shoulder at her. “You’re one to talk,” he said. His voice was still rough from sleep. “Do you mind waiting with Chouji? I need to get dressed.”

“You may want to think of a quick shower, too,” she pointed out as she passed him on her way to the door. She didn’t hear him reply, but then again, he probably didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t even be half-awake until he had showered and left the house; the cold seemed to give him some more life.

Chouji looked up as she entered the living room. “He’ll be out soon,” she informed him as she sat down on his couch. “Who helped him move?”

“His family and I did,” he answered. From behind she could hear the clink of silverware against the counter. “It didn’t take long, but his mother made him take everything out of the boxes that day because you know he would’ve just left them unpacked if she didn’t.”

“That’s true,” agreed Ino. “Why didn’t you call me? I’d have helped you two move.”

She looked over the back of the couch to Chouji, but he was busy taking food out of the basket and setting it on the table. “I went over to your house, but your parents said that you were out on a mission.”

“Oh.” Ino settled back on the couch. _So they didn’t forget about me._ With this revelation, her suppressed jealousy evaporated.

They both looked over at Shikamaru’s door when it creaked, and Shikamaru stumbled out. His slightly red skin still steamed from the hot shower, and it made him look like he had a cloud of fog following him. He didn’t acknowledge either one of them beyond a grunt of recognition when they greeted him and sat down at the table. “So you ready to walk all day?” asked Ino as she joined the other two in the kitchen.

Shikamaru glared at her as he chewed on a piece of toast, or he would have if he’d been awake enough to register what she said. The most he could manage was a sleepy-eyed glance that had little of the intelligence he usually displayed. However, he didn’t fuss at her, so she took that as a good sign.

Several times Shikamaru tried to leave the table, but Chouji wouldn’t let him move until all the food was gone. Sometime during this exchange Shikamaru woke up enough that he started arguing, but he wasn’t going to win against Chouji and Ino. She agreed with her chubby friend that the genius wasn’t eating enough, and so the two of them forced him to finish everything. When he finished the last bite of egg, Shikamaru dropped his fork and glared at the two of them. “Happy now?” he said around his food.

They nodded, grinning. Rare was the day that someone could win anything against Shikamaru, but his health was something that his friends weren’t going to budge on. “Okay, let’s go!” said Ino, taking dirty dishes and putting them in the sink. “We can wash these later.”

Shikamaru opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it again without saying anything. Pleased that no one was going to fight about it, Ino led them to the door and waited impatiently for them to finish bundling up against the cold. In her mind, Shikamaru didn’t have to take so long locking the house; no one in their right mind robbed a shinobi, and it wasn’t like he had anything of value inside that Spartan house of his. When he slid the key back out of the lock and into his pocket, Ino grabbed his arm and started dragging him across the snowy sidewalk. “What’s the hurry?” he protested, resisting her pulling. “We have all day, so slow down!”

“Come on, I want to see the ice skating!” Ino replied and went ahead.

Chouji chuckled at her childish excitement. “It’s the same every year,” he said. “You can never win when it comes to this, Shikamaru.”

The other man grumbled under his breath, but neither Ino nor Chouji heard anything coherent. As they made their way to where the ice skating ponds were, Ino looked around. Already the thick layer of snow on the main paths around Konoha had been salted, and many snow and ice sculptures adorned the front areas of shops and homes. Large canine prints in the snow by the trees gave evidence of Kiba and Akamaru’s earlier practice in the park. He and Ino were kindred spirits; they both loved winter, and sometimes he would accompany her on some of her winter outings when she didn’t have anyone else to go with.

In the center of the park, the large pond had frozen over, and already many citizens of Konoha, both shinobi and civilians alike, skated around. The beginners stayed closer to the sides while the more daring, experienced skaters did fancy turns in the center. Ino’s eyes took in the whole scene, mesmerized especially by the fancy footwork of the inner pond’s performers. At her side, she heard Chouji comment, “You know, Ino, since you like skating so much, wouldn’t it be nice to learn how to do it yourself?”

“No, I just like watching,” she murmured, never taking her eyes off the skaters. When she had been younger, before she even graduated from the Academy, her father had taken her skating. She had been so excited, putting on her shoes and watching as Sakura took her first steps onto the frozen water. When Ino got on the ice, she had made the mistake of trying to walk instead of glide, and she fell backwards. Everything after that went downhill, and Sakura fared no better. By the time they finished, both had vowed to never go on the ice again for so long as they lived. However, even if Ino had proven to be an ice-skating dunce, it did nothing to lessen her appreciation of watching someone else do a good job. Shikamaru and Chouji didn’t know about her ice-skating mishap, and she had no intention of ever enlightening them.

The rest of the day the three friends wandered around, drifting along until something caught Ino’s fancy, and once they stopped when Chouji saw someone making a meal using common, cold-weather plants as the main ingredients. Many vendors had come and set up tents around the park to sell their wares to the passersby, so Ino had much to keep her occupied, and her former teammates trailed after her no matter where she went.

The vendors had some items that couldn’t be found in retail shops, and out here the prices were open to negotiation. Ino loved to haggle, and she spent a few minutes whittling down the prices of items that she wanted. The process bored Shikamaru and Chouji, so they wandered away while she was busy, but she would always find them again a few minutes after she left the vendors, who accused her of cheating them out of money needed to buy someone some shoes or another necessity of life. She saw some blankets on display at one stall and stopped. Taking off one glove, she felt the nearest one and smiled at the softness. Even though it had been in the snow for hours already, the folds were still warm. The bright blue and green jewel-tones would go well in her room.

Looking up to see what her teammates were doing, she saw Shikamaru and Chouji talking near another rack of blankets. Seeing them next to the blankets reminded Ino of this morning when she had pulled the covers off Shikamaru’s bed. The blanket right beneath the top bedspread had seen better days, and the colors had faded, but she recognized it as the one she had given him for his birthday right before he qualified for Jounin status. That year he had royally pissed her off, and she wasn’t going to get him anything, but her mother had forced her to get him something. It wasn’t like he wanted anything from her, but her mother insisted, and he ended up with a large, green blanket. He told her it was too troublesome to put it on the bed, which didn’t help her mood; it was just a blanket, for crying out loud! How hard was it to pull off the top comforter, put on a new blanket, then replace the top? So she did it for him, and he must not have changed it ever since. Lazy bum. It wasn’t even meant to be put on the bed; those blankets had been made specifically for shinobi going out on missions, so they were more durable than the average blanket.

Sighing, she let go of the blanket and wandered over to her teammates; she didn’t need a new one, and even though it felt soft, it was heavy, and she didn’t want to carry it around the rest of the day.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “You find something?”

Chouji shook his head. “Let’s get something to eat. The sun’s going down, we haven’t eaten since two, and my chips are gone.” He held up an empty chip bag as proof.

“I’m fine with that as long as they have salad,” answered Ino.

They started off, leaving Shikamaru to trail after them. Ino didn’t know where to go, but Chouji looked like he did, so she followed his lead, and they all ended up at one of the Italian restaurants in the civilian part of Konoha. It wasn’t as close as some of the other restaurants to the shinobi side, so Ino hadn’t come to this place before.

The inside had lots of greenery for ambience. Seeing an ivy plant, Ino walked over to inspect it while the boys made the reservation. The ivy wasn’t real, and Ino could see the stitches in the leaves, but she supposed that it looked real enough to someone who didn’t know anything about plants and didn’t look too close.

Throughout dinner they talked about topics that hadn’t previously been covered, like how families were doing. The Nara deer farm was thriving, though Shikaku was worried about a few of the does. The Akimichi family was busy with missions, but Chouji still found time to visit them every once in a while. The Yamanaka Flower Shop flourished, though now was the dead season since not many people wanted cold-weather flowers. A few special orders required a shipment from a warmer country, but they should be in within the next week.

Despite the bright lights of the city, the stars shone bright enough to make themselves known. Glancing up at the sky, Ino smiled. Yesterday’s gloominess had all but disappeared, and she spent the day doing nothing work-related. Life would start again tomorrow, but today was still hers. However, her body was getting tired, and she felt her energy slipping away.

The other two knew that their day was winding down, and they walked back toward Shikamaru’s house. The Nara groaned at the thought of breakfast’s dishes still waiting on him, but he declined Ino’s offer to help clean up. “You don’t know where anything is, and it’s more trouble than it’s worth to direct you,” he said.

They stopped at his front door. Ino smiled and said, “Thanks for coming with me today,” she said. “We never see each other anymore.”

Chouji returned her smile. “We enjoyed today, didn’t we, Shikamaru?”

The other man made a sound that the others took for agreement. “I…guess I’ll see you around sometime,” Ino said as she left to head back to her apartment.

Without the sun, the air had a sharp bite to it, but Ino didn’t mind. Today was a good day. She did have good teammates, former teammates. If only she could become a Jounin, then they could work together, and then she could see them more often. A new layer of snow lay on the sidewalk, and Ino kicked up small patches of it before the salt could melt it.

A thought shot through her mind when she had gone a few blocks away. _I forgot my basket._ The basket Chouji had borrowed from her still sat on Shikamaru’s kitchen table. She stopped. _I could just pick it up later, but I don’t know when he’ll be back or leave for a mission. He won’t remember to give it back later. I guess I’d better turn around._

She hurried back to Shikamaru’s apartment. Chouji was still there when she left, but she figured that once he left, Shikamaru would go to bed, and it would be too late to get her basket. As she walked up the steps to the front door, she heard Chouji’s voice. “At least she feels better now.”

His voice didn’t originate from the inside, so he and Shikamaru were out on the back balcony. She started walking around, then stopped. _They’re talking about me,_ she realized.

Now Shikamaru spoke. “How could she not? We did whatever she wanted, and I didn’t complain.”

“Much,” Chouji corrected him.

Ino knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she didn’t want to barge in on them now. Instead, she stayed near the side of the apartment and stopped close enough that she could smell Shikamaru’s cigarette smoke and hear Chouji’s chip bag crinkle as his hand searched for another chip.

“Admit it, you were glad to spend time with her again,” said Chouji.

Shikamaru grunted. “She’s so troublesome.” But he didn’t refute the statement.

“I don’t understand why Tsunade-sama won’t elevate her to Jounin status,” Chouji murmured. “I’ve heard that she’s made some progress as a medic ninja, and Sakura said that she’s been practicing her ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. Ino hates taijutsu, but Sakura said that she’s been working on that the most.”

The genius sighed. “Chouji, you know why. Ino tries, but she isn’t a strong kunoichi.”

Ino stifled a gasp. His comment felt like a sharp kunai bursting her earlier bubble of happiness. Chouji entertained similar feelings. “Ino has been trying, and Tsunade-sama knows that. She’ll only keep improving.”

“Once she’s a Jounin, she may not be given enough time to improve. You know how busy we’ve been. If Ino isn’t ready for a mission, then her first could also be her last, and that could be the end for her teammates, too. Hokage-sama can’t afford to promote someone who isn’t ready for the responsibility.”

“I know Ino’s not the strongest fighter we have--”

“Ino’s skills haven’t been refined to the Jounin requirements. I’ve seen the files on just about every single shinobi in Konoha, and Ino is one of the weakest kunoichi.”

“That’s harsh, even for you,” Chouji admonished him. “What would Ino say if she heard you say that?”

“It’s not an opinion; it’s what the files say.” The genius let out a long breath, probably releasing cancerous smoke from his abused lungs. “I know as well as you do that she’s trying, but Ino wasn’t meant to be in the front lines. Her skills are better suited elsewhere. You remember going on missions with her.”

Ino was in shock. She knew that she wasn’t the best kunoichi, but she hadn’t died yet, and that meant something in the shinobi way of life; the stupid ones died early, and the ones that survived got stronger. _How could he say that about me? I know he isn’t one to mince his words, but I’m not weak! I may not be up to his or Chouji’s strength, but I’ve helped on my missions._

However, Shikamaru didn’t lie if someone’s life was on the line, and part of the reason Ino felt his words pierce through her soul was she herself had entertained these same thoughts from time to time. Sakura had shot down these thoughts when she gave voice to them, but when Shikamaru said it, she felt like her world collapsed. Her chest felt constricted, and she could feel tears burning her eyes.

Chouji crunched on another chip. “When the three of us were assigned together for missions, Ino didn’t do much fighting, but her skills don’t lie in taijutsu. She’d end up getting in the way unless we took out the strongest fighters first. But she’s a genjutsu user, and that was years ago.”

“Chouji, we couldn’t rely on her as a team member; that was a problem. You can’t deny that.”

A heavy sigh, then a hesitant answer. “No, I can’t.”

Unable to make herself listen to any more, Ino retreated without a sound. When she was several feet away, she broke into a run and didn’t stop until she reached her apartment. She fumbled for her key and shoved it into the door with trembling hands. Falling through the door, she locked the door and slid to the floor. In the safety of her own home, she stopped suppressing her feelings and drew her knees to her chest, sobbing. _My own teammates didn’t believe in me,_ she cried. The groundwork of her world had just been shattered.

The revelation had ruined her wonderful day. The rock that she had always believed in had turned to sand under her, leaving her without a solid foundation. If only she hadn’t gone back for the basket, she could still believe that someone believed in her. Without that rock, she was drowning, and all she could do was sob.


	2. Chapter 2

When Ino woke the next morning, she wondered why her bed felt so hard. And why were her muscles seizing up? She hadn't done anything strenuous yesterday. Also, her pillow seemed to be missing. Opening her eyes, her eyes beheld her living room, which wasn't what she expected, though it did explain her soreness. But why did she fall asleep right in front of her front door?

Abruptly the events of last night came crashing down, and she felt herself tearing up again. _No! Stop it, Ino!_ she told herself. _You did enough crying last night. Now you have to get ready to train again._

Looking down at herself, she saw that she was still in yesterday's clothing. The first order of things was to shower and change. A hot shower made her feel a little better and got rid of the tearstains, but it couldn't wash away her feelings. Her thoughts kept straying back to last night, and she found that she couldn't even feel anger; the feelings of shock, shame and sadness drowned out everything else.

As she opened the door to get the newspaper, she noticed first that the paper at the foot of her door now lay in a basket, the same one she had left at Shikamaru's. Either he or Chouji must have dropped it off. The negative feelings surged again, but she beat them back.

When she got her feelings under control, she picked up the basket and saw a white letter next to it with her name written on it. She recognized Shizune's handwriting. _At least I have a job to do to keep me busy,_ she thought, bringing the basket, paper and letter inside. A letter meant that the Hokage wanted to see her, which meant a mission. Maybe she could prove herself on this mission and show everyone that she was ready to be a Jounin.

Forgoing breakfast, she set the basket on the table, scanned the letter, then ran out the door. As she thought, the letter requested her presence as soon as she was able. A list of possible jobs crossed her mind as she ran through Konoha. If she was alone, then it could be an espionage mission, and if others were there, then she might be needed as a medic ninja. She didn't remember Konoha or Fire Country being on unfriendly terms with anyone at the moment, but maybe something sprang up over the past few days and the news hadn't become public yet.

When she arrived at the Hokage's Tower, Shizune, the Hokage's assistant, led her up to Tsunade-sama's office. Once inside, the woman shut and locked the door. Right away Ino noticed that only Shizune, the Hokage, and Ino herself were present anywhere near this place. Usually someone was running an errand of some sort through the halls. She didn't show her emotions; she wanted to get excited, but last night killed all her positive emotions. The best she could come up with was a neutral expression.

Tsunade-sama appeared more somber than usual today. She took her job as Hokage seriously, but today not a hint of anything else showed on her face or in the rest of her. Shizune bowed and said, "No one else is close, Tsunade-sama."

"Good." The Hokage turned to Ino. "I have a new mission for you, and it's one of the hardest missions I will ever assign anyone."

Ino nodded to show she gave the Hokage her full attention, and Tsunade-sama continued. "We have a bug here in Konoha. One of our shinobi is giving information away to the outside, and we need to find out who it is. I already have a list of who the possible employers could be, and any one of them with certain information would destroy Konoha given a chance. All we have right now is the knowledge that it is one of our shinobi, but we haven't been able to narrow down our list of suspects."

"So you want me to spy on our own? I can do that," said Ino, though she felt uncomfortable. With her talent, she could root through the mind of her victim when she took over the victim's body, but knowing every thought in someone's mind disturbed her, and it was all the more disturbing to think of doing that to people she had grown up with. After she did that, they would have no secrets from her, and she didn't want to know that much about any of them.

Tsunade-sama shook her head. "We need to narrow down the list first, but it won't work if you start taking over the minds of shinobi indiscriminately. Odds are you won't get the right one on the first try, and after that our bug will have some advance warning and take precautions. No, for this mission, no one can know it is you. I know it will be hard since you've known these people ever since you were born, and they know you, which is why we have a plan."

"A plan?"

"Yes, but before we go any further, I need to tell you why I want you for this mission." The blonde-haired Hokage took a deep breath. "Your father would have been first-choice for this mission, except he is already out and can't return for a while, and this plan needs to start immediately. This mission would be a challenge for one of the ANBU, and you're still a Chuunin. Ino, there is a reason I didn't elevate you to Jounin status." She leaned forward on her desk towards Ino, her golden-brown eyes locked onto Ino's blue. "I heard that you were the most promising kunoichi of your class, but you didn't live up to your potential. No one will deny that in espionage you are second only to your father, but you don't stand out anywhere else, and in fact you are below average in many of your other skills. As a fighter, you are weak, and your teammates have to take up your slack. Your ninjutsu is average, and your speed is only slightly better than the Genin coming from the Academy. You have a strong will, but when the time comes to make a decision that could save or condemn a life, you hesitate."

Ino bit her lip. Tsunade kept on with her attack, and everything she said echoed what Shikamaru had told Chouji last night. She could feel herself trembling under the onslaught, but she didn't allow any tears of shame to fall. A shinobi had no emotions.

At the end of the list of Ino's faults, Tsunade-sama paused. "You see why I could not raise you to Jounin. However, if you can complete this mission, I will consider you more than qualified to become a Jounin."

After all the faults she had listed, Ino hadn't expected this. "Really?" she asked. Listening to Hokage-sama, Ino was surprised that she had been allowed to graduate from the Academy.

"In all honesty, this mission is too big for one person, but you are the only one we have to send. One person has to have the equivalent strength of at least a four-man squad, and your only area of expertise isn't going to keep you alive. Your chances of pulling this off and surviving are slim to none."

That didn't faze Ino. If she could become a Jounin by completing this mission, she had to take it. She wouldn't get another chance. "I'll do it," she said. "There is no one else."

The Hokage sighed, but she didn't look surprised. So she had been expecting Ino to accept despite her dismal chances of succeeding. "Then we will proceed with the plan."

Before she could say anything else, Shizune cut in. "Wait a moment, Tsunade-sama." The room became silent, and the sound of running feet passed the door and faded into the distance. Tsunade-sama's assistant listened for a moment more, then nodded. "Please continue."

Tsunade-sama cleared her throat. "As I was saying, this mission will take some time to start, which will give you time to bring your other skills up to par." Reaching under her desk she brought out a vanilla envelope and pushed it toward Ino. "The details are inside here. Let no one else know what's in that envelope, and return here tonight ready to leave."

"Yes!" Recognizing a dismissal, Ino saluted and took the envelope. Shizune opened the door for her and whispered, "Good luck."

Ino flashed her a smile and walked out the door with a new spring in her step. _I_ _ **will**_ _succeed in this mission. I'll show Shikamaru that I'm not a weak kunoichi, that I can hold my own._ Now sparks of anger rose, but she pushed it back down. She had more important things to worry about than what one person thought of her, even someone like Shikamaru.

When she got back to her apartment, she sat on her bed and opened the envelope. As her eyes read the words on the page, she remembered what the mission was, and she started to shake. On the page her eyes read, "The kunoichi Yamanaka Ino will fake her own death and stay out of Konoha until the Hokage sends word that they are ready to take action. She will return to Konoha in disguise and receive the list of suspects from the Hokage. She will go down the list until she discovers the informant. The information required of the informant is the following: who the suspect works for, and what the intentions of the employer are. Thereafter, Yamanaka Ino will take the informant into custody and give him/her into the keeping of the Hokage. If the informant resists, Yamanaka Ino will eliminate the informant."

She stopped. If this bug resisted, she would have to kill someone that she had known from childhood. What if it was Iruka-sensei? When she was in the Academy, she didn't think much about him, but she didn't know if she could hold a kunai to his throat and watch as he choked on his own blood. Or what about Kurenai? Little Asuka would be bereft of both parents. Or, heaven forbid, one of her classmates, or one of Guy's team? This mission looked bleaker and bleaker.

_It's for Konoha,_ she told herself, but she couldn't shake the cold feeling that settled onto her soul.

Rereading the instructions, she noticed that no time frame had been included. _This could take days, or years,_ she thought. _Who knows how long it will take to come up with a list of shinobi that doesn't include everyone's name. I could be gone from home for a long time._

She stayed inside her apartment for the rest of the day. If she went outside, she knew that she wouldn't act like herself, and there was a chance that she could tip off the bug that something was wrong if this bug could put two and two together. She packed what she thought she couldn't live without, but some things she had to leave behind to give the appearance that she didn't know that she would "die". Also, to keep up the illusion, she probably wouldn't have her apartment anymore when she returned or any of the stuff inside it. "I'd better get a big paycheck for this," she muttered as she opened her jewelry box and saw the earrings and necklaces she had to leave behind. "I'm going to have to start over from scratch after this." No thoughts of failure were allowed.

Finally, after wandering around her apartment all day, night came, and Shizune came to get her. Neither one spoke a word. Ino didn't ask about the mission, and Shizune didn't ask why Ino had such a big bag with her, much bigger than the standard issue shinobi used on extended missions. Once again they entered the Hokage's office, where Tsunade-sama awaited them. She waited for Shizune to give the all-clear sign, then spoke to Ino. "Do you understand what is expected of you?"

Ino nodded. "Now we will get to the details on how you will carry this out," Tsunade-sama said. "You leave for a mission tonight; we'll call it a C-rank mission. In a few days Shizune will bring back your body and say that the shinobi that you followed were more dangerous than the client told us, and they overpowered you. We'll hold your funeral, and that's how things will stand. As for you, a special person exists, and I want you to meet with her. Misao!"

A shadow fell from the ceiling and landed a few feet away from the desk. Both Ino and Shizune got into defensive positions, but Tsunade-sama waved a hand at them. "This is Ishigawa Misao, an old friend of mine. She retired years ago and moved away from Konoha, but I convinced her to go with you, Ino, to this special person."

Now that Ino could see the shadowy figure, she saw a woman in her mid-sixties. Most of her hair was gray, and she had a few wrinkles by her eyes and around her mouth. Her hazel eyes looked at Ino, and she smiled. "You must be the kunoichi. I am Misao. Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you, too," Ino said, bowing. "I am Ino."

Tsunade-sama spoke. "Misao, this will be your new student until we have found what we need."

Misao-san bowed. "Of course, Tsunade."

"Tsunade-sama, the time," said Shizune.

"Right, the time." She looked at Misao-san. "Are you ready?"

"I do not need help in this," said Misao-san, her hands already making the symbols for ninjutsu.

Ino had no idea what was going on, but she stared at Misao-san's hands. She moved faster than Ino could follow, and from the brief glimpses she saw, she didn't recognize that pattern. It was longer than most jutsu required, and the longer a jutsu was, the more complex it was, and this was the longest pattern Ino had ever seen.

After several moments Misao-san slammed her hand onto the floor with more force than Ino thought the woman was able to possess in her entire body, and a shining symbol appeared around her and Ino's feet. The pattern came off the floor and started to envelop them. Ino looked over at the Hokage, who once again had a serious expression as she watched them. "I will send word when I need you," she said, then she and the rest of the room disappeared in the light of the pattern.

When the light faded and Ino was able to see again, she noticed that they weren't inside the Hokage's Tower anymore, but she hadn't expected they would be. Instead, they appeared to be in a place similar to Konoha, though it wasn't cold at all. The tall buildings and electric poles stood on either side of the road, and two small sidewalks ran on either side of a long, black road with lines painted on it. Ino knew black wasn't the color of the dirt because grass grew right next to the sidewalks, and the dirt underneath was a healthy dark brown. The lighting was obscured by the rainclouds, and the rain that poured down made everything darker, but to a florist who grew up around such colors, she knew that the soil did not match that black road at all.

Misao-san sighed and shouldered her pack. "Well, Ino, I have an errand to do here, but I will return when you have finished speaking with her."

She tried to go out the gate in front of them, but Ino grabbed the strap of her pack, not an easy task when the cold rainwater made the material as slick as the ice on a skating pond. "Wait!" she cried. "Who am I supposed to talk to? What is this place?"

The old woman smiled and turned her around so she faced one of the strangest houses she had ever seen. "She's in there, and she's waiting for you."

With a pat on her shoulder, Misao-san left Ino standing by herself. The glass buildings on either side of this one fit in, but this looked like it was taken straight from a storybook and stuck right in the middle of this place. However, people walked by and never looked twice at it, so she assumed that they were used to such things. They didn't even look at her once, even though she appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the grassy yard of the strange house.

Straightening her shoulders, Ino picked up her own pack and trudged to the large doors. She raised her fist to knock, but it opened before she could touch it, and she came face-to-face with a boy who looked to be a few years younger than herself. He looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him; he looked over his glasses and through them a few times as if to clarify that a person was standing in front of him. "Hello," he said, stepping back. "Please come in out of the rain."

She did, and he shut the door behind her. "You're not from around here, are you?" he asked.

Ino jerked in surprise. "How did you know?" she demanded. All the stress she had been through the past few days was taking its toll on her, and the new assignment didn't help.

The boy didn't take offense, however. He gave her a small smile and said, "Your clothes."

She looked down, then at him. Yep, he didn't dress like the shinobi or civilian males of Konoha. His white apron and bandana did not match anything she had seen in any country, for that matter. Still, something else about him made him seem even stranger than his clothing suggested. "Ah, I'm sorry for snapping," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "You must be here to see Yuuko-san."

"Yuuko-san?"

He nodded. "She is the proprietress of this shop."

They turned around, and Ino noticed two little girls standing up on the steps, and they were just as strange as the boy, if not more so. They smiled, as innocent as the children they were, but their eyes lacked a shine that Ino couldn't place. They reminded her of a shark's eyes; not in that they seemed like killers, but their eyes held a similar blankness. "Who's that, Watanuki?" they asked together. The lilac, curly pigtails of the girl on the right bounced as she tilted her head.

The boy, Watanuki, nodded at them. "Maru, Moro, go tell Yuuko-san that she has a customer."

"Oh, a customer, a customer," they sang as they ran to where this "Yuuko-san" was.

"Um, Watanuki, I'm not here to buy anything," said Ino. _What kind of place has Misao-san left me in?_

Watanuki smiled. "No one comes here without a reason, I've found. If you're here, then you need Yuuko-san's help, and her help never comes without a price."

She continued following Watanuki, but Ino's thought were racing. _What kind of person is this? Will I have to sell my soul? Can this person help me succeed in my mission?_

They entered a room, and Ino saw Maru and Moro with a black-haired woman already sitting on some cushions. Just like the others, Yuuko-san was different from anyone else Ino had seen, and she appeared even stranger than Watanuki or Maru and Moro. Her pale skin looked too white for a normal person, but it looked natural on her, and not unhealthy. Her crimson eyes looked from Ino to Watanuki. "Watanuki, why don't you take Maru and Moro and clean out the basement."

"What?!" Watanuki squawked. "Yuuko-san, it's raining! I can't even open a window to rid the air of the dust."

She smiled, and Ino found her even more mysterious. "It needs to get done, and there's no time like the present."

The boy huffed, but he took the two girls by their hands and left the room. "Clean the basement! Clean the basement!" Ino could hear the two girls singing. As soon as they disappeared through the door, it hit Ino what had bothered her about the boy. One eye was blue, and the other was golden. Unless he was wearing contacts, that just wasn't possible, and why would a person wear contacts and glasses at the same time?

When they left, Yuuko-san gestured for Ino to take a seat on the cushions opposite the long woman. She did, not knowing what to expect. "Watanuki may not be the strongest person around, but he is a kind boy. He would make a good housewife."

That was not what Ino expected to hear, and when she looked up, she saw Yuuko-san looking at her. "Now, what brings you to my shop?"

"I…I'm afraid I don't know," said Ino. "I am a shinobi from Konoha, and I was brought here, though I don't know why."

"Do you know what type of shop this is, shinobi of Konoha?"

Ino looked around the room, but aside from the cushions and the table between them, the room was empty. "I don't know."

Yuuko-san now looked serious. "This is a shop that grants wishes. Those who have a wish they want granted are drawn to my shop, and I try to grant their wish. However, each wish has a price, and that price varies according to the person making the wish."

If Yuuko-san hadn't been so serious, Ino wouldn't have believed her. A shop that granted wishes? Like she would swallow that. But she couldn't help but feel that this was exactly what Yuuko-san said it was. "What a coincidence, ending up in a shop that grants wishes," she said.

"It was no coincidence," corrected Yuuko-san. "It was hitsuzen."

"Hitsuzen?" Ino wasn't familiar with the word.

"Some call it fate, others the inevitable. You were meant to come here, and I was meant to meet you. All was part of hitsuzen."

_Right…_ Ino tried to ignore the chill that went down her spine at Yuuko-san's words. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Yuuko, though others call me the Dimension Witch. To ones who desire to have their wishes granted, I am the one who will make their wishes come true." Her eyes scoured Ino. "Tsunade of Konoha sent you to me for a reason. You have a wish, do you not?"

Ino opened her mouth to refute the claim, but the words that came forth weren't what she meant. "My village," her mouth said. "We are in danger, and I'm the only one who can save Konoha, but I'm not strong enough." She bowed her head. "Tsunade-sama says I must be strong enough to do what I have to, to save the village." Now she knew what her wish was. She raised her head to look at Yuuko-san. "I wish to be the strongest shinobi, strong enough that I don't have to rely on anyone else, so I can save my village." _I will show everyone that I am not a liability. I can take care of myself._

Yuuko-san narrowed her eyes. "You desire to not rely on others for help, to protect your village using just your own strength?"

Ino nodded. "Tsunade-sama told me that the bug could be anyone, and if I rely on anyone other than myself, then the entire village would suffer if I chose wrongly."

"That is a large wish," said Yuuko-san. "Large enough that you could never pay for it if I gave you that power. Ishigawa Misao will take over your training until you return, yes?"

"That is correct." She hadn't told Yuuko-san about that, but then again, it appeared that Yuuko-san, Tsunade-sama and Misao-san all had spoken to each other before Ino had come.

The pale woman closed her eyes. "By the time you return to Konoha, you will be strong enough that you need not rely on anyone else. However, you must earn it. Work hard, and you will be rewarded. Never forget your goal." Now Yuuko-san's eyes opened, and she stared into Ino's eyes as she said the last part.

"I will remember."

Yuuko-san smiled her mysterious smile and said, "Misao waits for you outside."

"Then I should not keep her waiting." She rose, but Yuuko-san remained seated. "Thank you," Ino said, bowing. She opened the door and ran into Watanuki-kun, who looked like he was just going to enter. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, sliding past him. She now had a small ray of hope. _I don't know if Yuuko-san will be the one to make the wish come true, but I'm going to work hard! I will succeed!_

~*~

Watanuki Kimihiro watched as the blond woman vanished out the front door, then walked into the room where Yuuko-san waited. He didn't expect her to speak, so he was surprised to hear her voice. "We will be seeing her again."

Now, Watanuki hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he went down to the basement only to discover that no dust remained from the last cleaning, which he had done a few days ago. Coming back up the stairs, he paused at the door when he heard their voices, and he heard what her wish was. "I thought you didn't like to deal with people like her," he commented. "She's a shinobi, which means she has to have killed at least one person." He remembered what Yuuko-san told him a long time ago: _"I will never take a life as the price of a wish. The price of a life will stay on the soul of the person who took it, and whoever kills a murderer will in turn carry not only the price of the lives that he himself has killed, but also all the lives on the murderer's soul."_

"I have an agreement with the leader of her village," Yuuko-san answered. "A long time ago, the leader needed my service, and the price he paid was high. Their world is one where conflicts and deaths are frequent. No one on that world has the power to travel the different dimensions, yet he knew of my shop, and he also knew of the price of killing another. When he came to me, he had two wishes. The first wish was that he could protect his country from other hostile countries, and the second was that the people from his world be saved from the price of taking a life."

"Is that possible?" To Watanuki, that sounded very similar to the forbidden wish, to bring the dead back to life. A large, impossible wish.

"It is possible, but the price, like I said, was high. In the end, he lost everything. First his wife became sick, and she died despite the best efforts of their doctors. Then a powerful demon attacked his village and almost succeeded in destroying it. In order to save the village, he cursed his own son and sealed the demon inside the boy's body, and the effort killed him."

"Wouldn't that make the price of his wishes those lives that were lost?"

Yuuko-san shook her head. "That man's wife could have lived, but she would have been trapped in the mental state of a young child, and she never would have recovered. She knew that and refused the treatment, even when the doctors told her that she would die otherwise. And as for the demon, he could have let it ravage the village. Not everyone would have died, and those remaining would have been enough to protect the country, which was his wish."

"How can you prevent the souls from carrying the price?"

"Once a person on their world dies, the soul moves on to the next realm, but a small part of it remains attached to its body. The shinobi have a certain ability to reanimate a corpse, and that tie allows them to control the body. It is similar to raising the dead, but the bodies are utterly dependent on the one who raised them, and they will only remain for a short time."

"So, the bond that ties the soul to its body prevents the killer from paying the price?" Watanuki didn't know if he understood all that Yuuko-san was saying, but this was her line of work, not his, and if he didn't understand, then it wasn't going to hurt anyone.

Yuuko-san nodded. "So even if that girl has killed someone, then she will not bear the price of that soul, and she is not a murderer in the sense that people in my profession see it. However, times must be difficult if the leader sent her to me. I haven't had many dealings with this new Hokage, but she knows that because of the former leader's wish, any wish made by a person from that world will have a high price."

Watanuki felt sorry for the blond girl. "She must have it rough," he said. "Wishing to protect her village and willing to bear the price on her own. She's one of your better customers, Yuuko-san."

But Yuuko-san shook her head. "She made a selfish wish."

"What? All she wanted to do was protect her village. How is that selfish?"

Yuuko-san turned back to the door with a pensive look. "She wished to be the strongest shinobi. In order for her not to rely on another she must become the equal of any and all others who come against her. Her intention of how to use that strength is admirable, but her wish was for power. A selfish wish."

"Yuuko-san, what was the price, if I may ask? She didn't pay up front like some of the others."

A small smile graced the Dimension Witch's mouth. "Part of the price is the time she puts into gaining that strength. The price to keep that strength will come later. The time for her to decide will be when we see her next."

Watanuki's gaze traveled to the outside, where the woman had gone. He hadn't sensed anything bad about her, like he had with some of Yuuko-san's other customers. Based on his first impressions of her, she seemed like a rather nice person. Unfortunately, when people made selfish wishes here, those wishes had a habit of turning on the people and destroying them. He hoped the same would not happen to her.

~*~

Outside the strange wish shop, Ino found Misao-san waiting for her. "Are you ready?" the older woman asked her.

Ino nodded. "Are we going to stay here?" she asked.

"No, we will be traveling to Snow Country." She set aside her bag and umbrella and started making symbols on the ground.

"Snow Country? Why? There isn't anything out there!"

"That's where we're going to train you." Misao-san finished drawing on the ground and made quick hand symbols, the same ones that she had made to send them here. Sure enough, light engulfed them, and when it disappeared, Ino saw that they were back in snowy country. The moon reflected off the snow, making it easier to see.

"Why are we in Snow Country?" Ino repeated. "We could have stayed in Fire country or someplace closer."

"No good." Misao-san hefted her bag onto her back and started off, leaving Ino to follow in her wake. "Too many shinobi from Konoha patrol Fire country, and eventually we would have run into them. Here, pull your hood up. I don't want them getting a good look at you yet." Reaching back she flipped Ino's hood over her face. "Since I retired, I've traveled with a group of entertainers, and we'll use that as our way of sneaking back into Konoha when the time is right. However, we can't let them know who you are. I love them all, but some of them are compulsive gossips."

She stopped, and Ino almost ran into her back. Looking around the woman, she saw two people dressed in heavy coats. "Who goes?" a deep voice asked.

"Kei, Luca, you know me," she said. "It's Misao, and I've brought my great-niece with me."

"Misao!" they exclaimed. The deep-voiced man continued talking. "We didn't know when you would return."

"You probably didn't know that I'd have someone tagging along, either," she said dryly. "We need to talk to Sano and Moira as soon as possible and get something warm on."

"Of course, sorry for detaining you."

The people got out of the way, and Ino followed Misao-san past them. _Entertainers need to have guards posted?_ she wondered. _What kind of entertaining do they do?_ She wasn't sure she wanted to follow that train of thought to its end.

Tents rose out of the ground, and the old woman led her to one that appeared to be in the middle. If Sano-san and Moira-san were the heads of this place, then it would make sense for them to stay in the largest tent in the most secure position. Misao-san pushed the tent flap in and ushered Ino in before her.

The fire blazing on the inside felt nice even though she and Misao-san had only been in the snow for less than one hour. Soft rugs lay on the floor, and bright tapestries hung from the walls. Beside the fire, two small children played under the watchful eye of their mother. When Ino and Misao-san entered the tent, the woman rose and stepped toward them, which put her between them and her children. After seeing Misao-san push back her hood, recognition flickered in her eyes, and she welcomed them with a smile. "Misao, how was your trip?" she asked. "You left us so fast, I thought it was an emergency."

"Moira," responded Misao-san, embracing the woman. "I'm afraid it was. This is my great-niece, Ishigawa Hikari. Her father, my nephew, and his wife perished when a raid destroyed their village in Wind country. As I'm the only living relative she has, I decided to take her with me until she recovers." She dropped her voice, but Ino could still hear every word. "The experience traumatized her, but I think staying here will be good for her."

Ino saw the sympathetic look Moira-san sent her. "Poor dear," she murmured. "Of course she can stay. I'll speak to Sano about her."

"Thank you." Now Misao-san spoke in regular tones. "Well, I'd better take her to her new home. We'll see you tomorrow."

Misao-san's tent wasn't far from Moira-san's, and Ino threw off her overcoat as soon as Misao-san secured the tent flap. Sure, the outside was cold, but she felt like she was in a heat wave when she wore it inside. "You may not want to do that just yet," said Misao-san as she knelt by her unlit fire pit.

"My new name is Ishigawa Hikari? And I'm from Wind country, where both my parents just died?" Ino said.

Misao-san nodded. "We can't use your real name in case we come across that bug's employer and they hear that you've just died. That could cause some problems."

Oh yes, it could. "Why wasn't I allowed to take off my hood?"

"We need to fix your appearance." A spark caught, and a small flame started to grow in the fire pit. Satisfied, the woman turned to Ino. "You are lovely, my dear, but some of your features stand out too much. From now on you'll need to wear these." She reached into her bag and handed Ino a small box. "And we'll also have to do something about that hair of yours."

"My hair?" repeated Ino, horrified. She clutched her platinum locks to her chest. "I just got it this long again!"

Misao-san frowned, then sighed. "I suppose the length won't make you stand out, but we'll need to dye it." She held up a hand, stalling Ino's protests. "Not many people have that color hair. Either we dye it or we cut it and dye it, but dye it we will."

The blond kunoichi knew a hopeless case when she saw one, and she knew that she wasn't going to win against the older, more experienced shinobi. Looking down at her hand she noticed that the box Misao had given her was a contact box. "I don't need these," she said.

"Yes, you do. These will color your eyes, and they'll feel strange at first, which is why you need to practice wearing them." Misao-san seemed to sense another protest because she continued. "Your eyes are beautiful, but they stand out. I've only seen a few others with that particular shade, and they were all in your father's family. Anyone who knew the Yamanaka family would be able to tell you're from that clan, which means more than likely you would be able to use the family techniques. No, the contacts stay."

Again, Ino gave way to the older woman. "Where would you like me to stay?" she asked.

"This is a tent, so there's only one place for you to stay, and that's on the ground." Now Misao-san removed her coat and hung it next to the tent flap. "We're training for our show, so we'll stay here for a bit, but then when it's time to perform, we'll be able to stay in more comfortable lodgings."

Ino didn't know what time it was, but the stress of all that had happened drained her of her energy. Putting the blankets Misao-san gave her on the floor she wrapped herself in a cocoon and closed her eyes. While she knew this was a mission, she detested sleeping on anything that wasn't a bed, and she didn't know how long this mission was going to last. Her last conscious thoughts were on her parents. _Dad's not even back from his mission yet. When he does get back to Konoha, my "death" will already be announced. He'll be heartbroken, and I know Mom will be, too. She never agreed with me becoming a shinobi…_


	3. Chapter 3

As the tents had no windows, Ino didn't know when she awoke, but she knew why. When two people stay in a small space, everything can be heard. She heard Misao-san get up and build up the fire so the place would warm up. Then the old kunoichi shook Ino's shoulder to wake her just in case the earlier noise had failed to do so. "Hey, time to get up," she said. "We need to get you ready for the day."

Ino groaned, but she obeyed. "What are we going to do, Misao-san?" she asked.

"First of all, we're going to fix your appearance," answered Misao-san as she prepared to make bacon and eggs over the fire pit. "You'll need to get used to wearing those contacts because they'll obstruct your eyesight for a while. And it's Misao, we don't use honorifics here, so you might as well practice getting rid of them."

Putting those contacts in the first time was a nightmare. Every time she brought one close to her eye she would blink, and the contact would slip and fall onto her lap. However, Misao insisted that she wouldn't leave the tent until those contacts were both in. After many painful tries, Ino successfully had both contacts in. _Misao's right,_ she thought as she viewed the world through the contacts. _Everything is blurry._ Out loud she said, "If these are going to hinder my vision, why do I need them?"

"Because you'll get used to wearing them, and then you'll be able to see just as well with them as without them," Misao said as she pulled Ino's hair back. "They irritate your eyes because your eyes aren't used to them, but it'll get better soon if you keep wearing them."

The old woman allowed Ino to eat before working on her hair. The fatty food made Ino cringe on the inside, but she couldn't turn it down because that would have been bad manners. After washing the dishes the old-fashioned way, Misao made Ino sit so she could dye her hair. A mirror leaned against the wall to the right, but Ino refused to look that way. She would not watch the mutilation of her beautiful hair! As it was, she was trying very hard not to cry.

"Done!" declared Misao, satisfaction in her voice. "We'll wait a few minutes, then go outside and get started."

Ino found herself being turned to the mirror, and she didn't recognize the stranger that sat in front of Misao. That girl wore Ino's clothes, had Ino's skin, but her face didn't look familiar at all. Light brown eyes stared at her, and the girl's brown hair hung down her shoulders and back, a dull color. She looked…ordinary. This person wouldn't stand out in a crowd at all.

"Use this shampoo at night to keep your hair that color." Misao pushed a bottle of soap into Ino's hands. "Remember, Ino, your name is Hikari, and you just lost everything you knew. Remember to act traumatized."

_I am traumatized,_ thought Ino. _No need for acting. That isn't me!_ Now it wasn't like Ino hadn't disguised herself for a mission before. She'd done it enough that now it was an old hat. However, thanks to the stress of recent events, her emotions were not operating on all cylinders, which was why even though she knew she was overreacting to all this, she couldn't stop herself.

It wasn't long before Misao motioned for Ino to put on her coat, and the two of them walked over to the edge of the tents. Many people passed them, and Misao greeted them all. Ino received open stares of curiosity, but no one mentioned anything. Inside those stares Ino detected sympathy, which meant word had gotten around of her "circumstances". Now she just had to remember to play the part.

They arrived at a small, frozen pond, and Misao set down the bag she had been carrying. Taking out a pair of skates, she held them out to Ino. "All right, let's see what you can do," she said.

Ino stared at her. "What?" she said.

"I want to know what you can do on the ice," said Misao. "Our little group specializes in ice performance, and we need to make you part of the show. It'll help get you past your trauma if you integrate yourself with these people." She pushed the skates into Ino's hands.

"I-I don't know how to skate," Ino stammered. "I can't do anything."

Now Misao stared at her. "You've never ice-skated?" She sounded incredulous.

"Well, I did once when I was little, but it was a bad experience."

"Looks like I have a lot more work than I thought I did," she heard Misao mutter under her breath. Clapping her hands, Misao smiled, and Ino was reminded of Maito Guy for some reason. "Well then, I guess that you'll need skating lessons in addition to your other training. There's no time like the present, so let's get started!"

And so began Yamanaka Ino's training away from Konoha. Her days started with skating, and it took a while before Ino would skate around the small pond without Misao right next to her. When they took a break, the older woman brought her into the woods far enough away that she was confident that no one back at camp would stumble across them, and she trained Ino in her shinobi skills. Once Ino was pushed beyond her limit, they would eat lunch and return to the pond for more skating lessons. They ate dinner from the communal pot, but Misao had them bring their food back to the pond so they could continue once they finished. After dark, Misao trained her in the forest so she would get used to fighting in the dark, definitely not one of Ino's stronger points.

Misao kept her away from the other entertainers for the most part, but even when she did interact with them, she was so tired from her training with Misao that she could hardly work up the energy to speak. Most people thought it was because of the shock of losing her village that made her silent. They patted her back, and some of the more brave souls gave her a hug to let her know that they were there for her. Even though it wasn't true, Ino was touched by their willingness to comfort a stranger. It also shocked her how accepting they were of her presence. In the village, strangers were met with suspicion and sharp objects. Here she met with very little suspicion and no sharp objects that weren't in the hands of her new mentor or the day's cooks.

Training with Misao was more intense than anything she ever did with Asuma or her other teammates. Each night she fell asleep the moment she lay down, and she didn't stir until Misao shook her awake. However, when she got used to it, homesickness hit like a hammer. It wasn't like she felt homesick every time she left on an extended mission. She wasn't that green. But never before had she faked her own death for her friends and family, and it felt wrong to deceive her own village. That wasn't how good shinobi operated. She should be able to trust her own village at the very least, if not certain individuals within it. But orders from the Hokage were not to be ignored. _How is everyone?_ she wondered after another training session ended. _By now Tsunade-sama has announced my death and had me buried. Does anyone miss me aside from my family? Do Shikamaru and Chouji even care?_

She turned over and wrapped the blankets tighter around herself. _I want to go home, but I have to complete this mission._ The memory of Shikamaru's conversation with Chouji still rankled in her mind. _I will show them that I am not a liability in battle. I'll show Shikamaru and Chouji and everyone else that I am a dedicated kunoichi who can hold my own._

Her thoughts must have influenced her even while she slept because she dreamed that she was back in Konoha. Walking through the main gates, dream-Ino looked around at the familiar sights and breathed deeply, a smile on her face. Everything was peaceful. Citizens of Konoha, civilians and shinobi alike, circulated through the open bazaar situated in the center of the village. _It must be time for a festival,_ she thought as she looked around. Lots of small stands were situated wherever there was space next to the walkways. Food vendors and merchants alike called their wares to the eager customers that glanced in their direction. Even Ichiraku Ramen had a stand, and Ayame-san smiled and did her best to charm people into tasting her family's ramen. A few stands down, a representative from Yakiniku Q glared at the smiling Ayama-san and did his best to draw more customers than the woman. He must not have had much luck if his face was any indication.

She spotted Sakura in the crowd pointing something out to Tenten and almost joined them, but a strong desire to go home filled her, and her feet carried her to a small house a few blocks away from the bazaar. She must have been successful in her dream to be able to own a house, even one as small as this one. The peach exterior matched its neighbors, and flowering bushes lined the sides and part of the front. Sunflowers and daffodils bloomed next to her front porch. A doe and her fawn wandered around the side of the house, and even though they must have spotted her walking up the path to her front door, they didn't act scared or surprised. _I must be close to the Nara farm to have their deer in my yard._ Only their deer would be so fearless around people.

Ino unlocked her door and stepped inside, removing her vest as she did so. Her ears picked up the sound of rapidly approaching feet, and she turned toward it. Running toward her at full-tilt was a miniature version of herself, only two years old and barely able to keep her balance. "Mommy!" she shrieked, her arms already up to tackle her now-kneeling mother. Either the person watching the child had decided it was hot enough that she could get by with just a diaper or else the toddler was a nudist in training because the diaper was the only part of her that was covered.

Grabbing her daughter, Ino lifted her into the air, making her child giggle, and kissed her on the head. "Hi, sweetie," she greeted the miniature Ino. Now the removal of the vest made sense. The tough fabric would have scratched the baby's soft skin raw. "Did you miss me?"

Her answer was an enthusiastic hug from her daughter. At two years old, she could speak, but speaking coherently and comprehending everything she heard were on another level. But it still made Ino feel warm inside to feel how happy the child was to see her. Her rosy skin and glowing blue eyes made the little girl the epitome of happiness in dream-Ino's eyes. Hefting the child so she rested on her hip, Ino smiled at her. "Where is Daddy?" she asked.

"Right here," a lazy voice drawled. Rising from his previously hidden position on the couch in the next room, he strolled over into the foyer, and dream-Ino felt a rush of warmth and love for the man she married and saw the same reflected in his eyes. "You finished faster than I thought you would," continued Shikamaru as he rocked the infant in his arms. Even though its eyes were closed, dark hair had already started to cover its head.

"It was an easy mission." She couldn't hug him since both their hands were full, so she settled for standing next to him and laying her head against his shoulder for a brief moment. The child in her arms wiggled around so she could get a better look at the infant below her, but she tired of that quickly and squirmed until Ino put her down. The woman watched as she tottled back over to the couch where her wooden building blocks lay scattered around the floor. Still keeping an eye on the toddler, Ino took the opportunity to wrap her arms around the man next to her. Unlike the Shikamaru Ino knew in reality, he didn't mention how troublesome she was or roll his eyes at her actions, instead choosing to nudge her slightly to acknowledge her.

For her, this dream was very mundane. No wild fights, no running for her life, no hotter-than-life men, just her and Shikamaru and their two children. Yet for all the lack of action, her dream self was content with her life and happy to not be in constant motion. The infant Shikamaru held opened its – his – eyes, and Ino's eyes peeped out at the two adults above him. While the girl had been a replica of Ino, this baby had qualities from both parents, and the combination threatened to stop Ino's heart. "He'll be a looker when he grows up," she murmured as she tickled him with a finger. The infant, looking affronted by the assault, caught it in his grasp and attempted to suck on it. "He'll have to fight off the girls."

Shikamaru spared her a sideways glance but didn't respond. He looked older, more like his father but without scars. The customary Nara ponytail still sat atop his head, and while she had found it an annoyance when she was a Genin, now it brought warmth to her chest to see it. It reminded her of safety because she knew that as long as she was with him, he would do whatever he had to in order to keep her and her children to be safe. That was the kind of man her Genin partner had grown into and the one she fell in love with. Taking her free hand, she brushed the top of his ponytail with her palm, which earned her another look, though this one showed how troublesome he thought she was acting. He may not have understood her fascination with his gravity-defying hair, but he didn't fuss much when she played with it unless they were in public. But she deserved it then; most of the time, it was to get a rise out of him when she thought he was acting too formal in front of someone he perceived was of higher social standing than he was. In that instance, formality was expected, but it just felt stuffy to Ino. It was a good thing that Hokage-sama had him interact with the foreign dignitaries instead of her. She could behave if she had to, but odds were she'd start a war just by saying good-bye the wrong way.

The day in Ino's dream zipped by, and she found herself watching her young daughter splash around in a shallow tub while Shikamaru put the infant in his crib. The poor tyke couldn't stay awake for more than a couple hours at a time, but he was still so young that he needed lots of sleep. However, she hadn't expected Shikamaru to come into the bathroom afterwards and was surprised when a pair of arms encircled her waist as she rinsed soap off her daughter. She jumped and looked over her shoulder as he tightened his arms and held her body flush against his own. The shock was almost enough to shake her out of the dream. _Since when does Shikamaru show affection so blatantly?_ Even dream-Ino, who took most unusual occurrences in stride, was thrown for a loop. "Shikamaru?" she asked, trying to see his face in hopes of a clue to figuring out what strange mood had hold of her husband.

Squeezing her, he released her from his hold and joined her by the bathtub. While his face didn't show what had caused him to act like that, in his eyes she saw the flames of growing desire and felt something inside her respond. How she knew that's what it was, she didn't know. In the waking world, she had never seen anything close to that look from him directed at anyone, and it surprised her that she knew right away what it was. Even though it was just a dream, it was still Shikamaru. In what world did Shikamaru desire Ino? Well, apparently the dream world, though none of it showed except through his eyes as both parents finished bathing their happily-squealing daughter. And who would have thought that Ino would respond to him, even in her dreams? Not her, yet she felt all warm and tingly the entirety of the dream just by being next to him. She was able to keep herself under control because of her daughter's presence, but her husband had started a fire in her with his unusual display of affection, and it was only building the longer he stayed in close proximity to her person.

The two of them tucked in the child, kissing her good night. Shikamaru took longer than Ino to get through his; it was obvious that while she took after Ino in looks, she was a complete Daddy's girl. Watching the two interact, Ino observed another surprise. Shikamaru was a pretty good father if today through this moment was a representation of his parenting skills. He diverted the child's growing tantrum at going to bed with ease and left her smiling when he turned off the light, letting her small dragonfly nightlight illuminate the way out the door and into the hall. After he shut her door, he turned back to Ino, and the image of the Father was replaced with the image of the Lover. It seemed that he, like Ino, repressed these particular feelings in the presence of their daughter, but since that obstacle was now tucked into bed and unlikely to leave it right now, the flames roared back to life. As he pressed her against the wall outside their bedroom door, pinning her body with his own, she felt her own body respond with rising excitement. His right hand came up and brushed her bangs away from her face, sending shivers down her body. He leaned closer, she lifted her chin to meet him, and –

Ino awoke in a cold sweat, gasping. She remembered what she had been dreaming, and she was horrified. _I felt that way about Shikamaru?_ _ **Shikamaru?!**_ She felt sick. He was her Genin teammate, and that was that! She shuddered. _Am I so deprived of that kind of love that I dream I'm married to my teammates and do_ _ **that**_ _?_ If they ever knew about that, they'd either laugh themselves sick or become horribly embarrassed. She knew which option applied to her already. Unnerved by what her mind had shown her, Ino couldn't sleep the rest of the night.

~*~

After a rough first month, Misao started teaching Ino basic tricks, like how to do spins and skate backwards. Even more than shinobi training, these new techniques terrified Ino. She had only begun to feel comfortable skating alone, and here she was given even more to learn. And to make matters worse, Misao began to incorporate ninjutsu into the skating. Ino would be skating along, and Misao would throw a kunai at her. The first time startled Ino, and she grabbed the sharp side by mistake. Someone walking by commented on it, but Misao waved it aside with a smile. "It's practice," she said, and the person let it go at that. He must have missed the blood that soaked through Ino's gloves and dripped onto the clear ice.

Lucky for Ino, a break from the training came in a few days after Misao had started her on her new skating-shinobi training. A young boy came running to the pond where Ino skated and stopped beside Misao. "Sano just gave the order to pack up," he said, then rushed off again.

Misao waved Ino to the bank. "Looks like we're stopping early today," she said, and Ino breathed a sigh of relief. "We have to pack quickly, or we'll be bringing up the caboose of this caravan."

Back at the tent, Ino packed her belongings, but when she tried to help Misao, the old woman waved her aside. "You just stand back and watch," the old woman instructed. Taking out a blank scroll, Misao made quick hand symbols, and in a puff of smoke, the tent disappeared, and the blank scroll now had black markings scrawled all over it. Misao rolled up the scroll and stuck it inside her ever-present bag. "It's good to travel light," she said to Ino. "Remind me to show you how this is done some time. It's a useful trick when you're always on the move."

The group started the move, but people without the benefit of knowing shinobi techniques had some trouble moving their homes. Misao went to help out with one family, leaving Ino to her own devices. She figured that following her "great-aunt's" lead would be a good idea, and she saw someone just up ahead. A young woman struggled to keep her cart moving, and Ino ran to stop it from tipping over. The surprised woman glanced back at Ino and smiled. "Oh, Hikari, thank you," she said.

Ino returned her smile, making sure to keep it hesitant. She was still getting over the death of her family, after all. "I thought you needed some help," she said, moving around the cart to stand with the woman in front.

The woman laughed and patted her stomach, which Ino saw was quite pregnant. "Yes, I can use all the help I can get now," she said. Her intense, green eyes gazed into Ino's now-brown ones. "My name is Mika."

The rest of the move Ino stayed by Mika's side, helping her pull her cart along behind one of the bigger wagons. Ino thought Mika to be a nice enough person who laughed easily. She had Ino's platinum hair, and if her eyes were blue instead of green, she could have been Ino's older twin. She never mentioned a husband, and Ino didn't feel like she knew this person enough to inquire any further. However, while talking to this person, Ino could forget about why she was here and enjoy the snow.

The pace that they traveled at didn't seem fast to Ino, who was used to traveling great distances quickly, but she could tell it was too fast for Mika. The poor woman huffed and panted as she pulled her side of the cart, and Ino worried that the stress might not be good for the child she carried. "Let's stop for a second," she suggested.

"They'll leave us behind," panted Mika, though she stopped moving and leaned over to catch her breath.

"You need more rest," Ino admonished her. "Here, you sit up here, and I'll pull the cart for a while." Even though she wasn't a full Medic-nin, she couldn't ignore a pregnant woman straining herself like this. It wasn't healthy for the mother or the baby.

Of course, Mika protested. "It's too heavy as it is," she said while Ino pushed her up onto the cart.

Looking back at her, Ino grinned and picked up the handles of the cart. "I'm stronger than I look," she assured her. "Just let me know when you feel like you can walk again."

Of all the people she knew, Ino could only think of two people who would pull this by themselves and not complain, and those two people were Maito Guy and Rock Lee. However, she told herself that this could be part of endurance training for taijutsu and didn't say anything. Aloud, that is. Inside her mind, she was cursing everything she could think of up and down. Her muscles felt like they were going to snap apart from the stress she put them through.

They reached their destination by nightfall, and Sano led them to the area where they would leave their belongings. The inn stood right next to the area Sano had reserved, so many people felt comfortable leaving their wagons and carts to the security of the small village and resting in beds for the first time in a while. Ino had slept in a bed more recently than some of these people, but she was overjoyed at the thought of a bed and running water.

As she expected, she would share a room with Misao. Upon arriving at the inn, Mika said, "Thank you for helping me today. I don't know that I could have pulled myself together and helped others if I had just lost my family."

Ino smiled and said, "You needed me." It was for her mission, but comments like that made her feel guilty. She didn't like deceiving people, but it came as part of the job description for a shinobi. It applied to her and her family in particular since their area of expertise was espionage, which involved deceiving more people than the average shinobi was required to. It was a thankless task, but someone had to do it, and none were better than the Yamanakas.

They parted ways, and Ino followed Misao up to their room. In deference to Misao's advancing years, Sano and Moira had given them a room on the ground floor so they wouldn't have to climb stairs. Ino threw herself onto a bed and lay there, savoring the feeling. "I'm in heaven," she said.

Misao chuckled at her reaction. "Tomorrow we will continue your skating so you can perform at the next village," she said, setting her pack down by the other bed. "You may not think so, but you've improved much faster than anyone I've ever taught. Some people have seen you, and they've commented on it as well."

"Maybe I just have a good teacher," Ino suggested. _Or it could be Yuuko-san is granting my wish, though the first seems more likely. Ice skating isn't going to make me a stronger shinobi._

Ino could feel herself falling asleep, but the sleepiness disappeared when Misao threw a bundle of dark clothes onto her stomach. "Don't get too comfortable," the old woman said. "I said that we'd start ice-skating training again tomorrow, but we're still going to drill you in the shinobi arts tonight."

"That's cruel," groaned Ino, but she started pulling the dark clothes on. Her abused muscles tried to cramp in protest, but she ignored the pangs. "We were moving all day, and I was pulling a cart for most of it, and it had a pregnant girl to boot."

"Yes, I saw you helping Mika along," commented Misao as she finished bundling her graying hair into the black bandana. "That poor girl needs all the help she can get, now that Toya is gone."

"Was Toya her husband?" Ino waited for Misao to lead them out the door.

"He was. I suppose you could say he still is, though none of us have heard word of him in many months."

"He ran away? Leaving a pregnant wife?" The younger woman felt indignant on Mika's behalf. She had to help Kurenai when she was pregnant with Asuka, and she saw how difficult it was for the kunoichi to do many things.

"It's complicated. Maybe I'll explain it later, or she will. Now let's focus on why we're out here."

After that, they communicated only the bare minimum. This exercise consisted of Ino dodging the blunted kunai that Misao threw at her, and she had to land softly or risk waking the people beneath the roofs of the houses where they practiced. The crescent moon provided little light, so all the warning Ino got was the whistling of the kunai coming her way before it hit. She never saw them coming, but Misao seemed to know where she stood at every moment, and she knew where each of her kunai fell after she threw them.

Ino tired more quickly than usual, but Misao didn't let up her pace. The kunai started to hit Ino's arms when she was too slow to dodge, and she could barely stand by the time Misao allowed them to return to the inn. In the inn's dim lighting, she noticed her hand trembling as she reached for the doorknob of the bathroom. Her skin was slicked with sweat, and she worried that the dye in her hair would start to run out and down her back. To her relief, this was not the case, but her hair seemed a lighter shade of brown than earlier.

When she finished her bath and reentered the bedroom, Misao looked at her and said, "We need to dye your hair again soon. It's beginning to fade again."

Ino sighed and sat down on her bed. This wasn't the first time they needed to re-dye her hair. The smell never got better, and she dreaded the next morning when they would dye it again. Misao wouldn't let her leave the inn until her hair was the proper shade again since she mentioned it.

The next morning Ino left the room in a hurry, eager to get away from the fumes produced by the hair dye. She and Misao would help the entertainers set up, and then Misao said she could have the rest of the time to herself. Misao wouldn't be free to train her because she had to help with the other performers. The older woman wouldn't be performing, but she would help behind the scenes, making things run smoothly.

Entering the dining area of the inn, Ino looked around and saw Mika waving at her across the room. "Good morning," Mika said when Ino made her way over.

"Good morning," responded Ino. "How are you feeling?"

"The baby didn't want me to sleep last night," she said, smiling and putting a hand on her swollen stomach. "She's been active lately, and she was kicking."

"I'm sorry. Will you have time to rest today, or do you perform?"

Mika laughed. "I can't perform like this," she said. "I used to, but then my angel came along, and I don't want to risk hurting her. Nowadays I help put together and sell souvenirs to guests, but nothing strenuous. What are you going to do? Are you going to perform?"

"No, I am nowhere skilled enough to be on ice," Ino said. "Misao said that I have the day off, but I don't know what to do with myself." _Maybe catch up on my sleep since she won't let me get enough._ But she couldn't say that to this pregnant woman who had to work all day and looked like she was raring to go even without a good night's sleep herself. It would make Ino look very bad.

"Why don't you help me? All I do is prepare and sell food to the visitors."

"Really? You want my help?" Ino's voice sounded cheerful, but her heart sank. _Good bye, sleep._

Mika flashed her white teeth at Ino. "It would be much appreciated. That'll free Shin to go somewhere else. He's been complaining that he always gets stuck with the boring jobs."

"All right. Sounds like a plan."

After Mika told her where go once set-up was complete, Ino ate her oatmeal, meandered outside, and was grabbed by the head of one of the workforces before she could make it back to her room and conscripted to set up the new performance area. Mostly she was needed to help erect small food stands and benches around the pond where the performers would put on their ice show for whoever came. She grumbled in her head as she pulled the canvas over one of the stands. It wasn't like she was adverse to helping people out, but she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and the training on top of the move left her feeling like a zombie. Was a little sleep before she met with Mika too much to ask for? She didn't think so, but apparently the Powers That Be did and were affronted that she even thought about it because they made the man in charge give her the chores that required the most amount of movement.

As she carried a stack of trays to one of the vendor stalls, another person backed into her from the side, causing her to stumble and almost drop the trays. She looked back, her eyes narrowed, but the person was already apologizing to her. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I didn't see you there. Are you all right? Did I hurt you?"

She blinked, taken aback by the sincerity of his apology. It wasn't like he hit her hard. "No, I'm fine," she sighed, her glare gone. She started to continue on her way, but he followed her, still concerned that he had injured her somehow. "No, you didn't hurt me," she kept repeating. An angry tic started beating near her temple the more he apologized. Even though she knew it was mostly her lack of sleep wreaking havoc on her emotions, the more he spoke, the more she wanted to strangle him so he'd be quiet.

He followed her all the way back to where she delivered the trays, then stayed with her until she returned to where Mika was getting ready for the following day. Mika saw them coming and giggled to herself. "Shin, leave poor Hikari alone," she called. "She doesn't need you bothering her while she's trying to work."

"I'm just making sure she's okay," he said in his own defense.

"I am fine! You didn't hurt me." _Now please go away._

"If you're that concerned, then you can help us put these together." She pointed at a stack of crates beside the stall. "Separate the fruits and vegetables, and then we'll get the meat in the refrigerators as soon as they get here." Ino's heart sank as he moved to do as Mika bid.

And so Shin joined their little group. Once he stopped apologizing, he seemed to be a person Ino could tolerate. He and Mika got along well, and he did his part helping with whatever Mika told him to do. He constantly asked Ino questions, though when he started asking about her personal life Mika cut him off, giving him a warning look. At first Ino didn't understand why, but then she remembered her new persona's background. Mika was concerned that he would bring back "Hikari's" painful memories. She was grateful for the silence that followed, though. All his questions gave her a headache.

After arranging the remaining vendor stalls, they joined the rest of the troupe making their way back to the inn. "Is it okay to just leave everything out like that?" Ino asked as she sat with Mika and Shin at a table. "Aren't you worried that someone will steal something?"

"The village guards and our own are watching it," said Shin as he ate a chicken wing. "We're constantly traveling, so we don't carry much of value. Who would want to steal from a traveling troupe of performers?"

"Why would a traveling troupe of performers have their own guards?" returned Ino. That was something that had bothered her ever since she arrived. Why wouldn't the shinobi patrolling the area offer enough protection for them? Since it was a patrol, the troupe wouldn't be their main concern in the event of an attack, but just a couple shinobi would be sufficient for something like this.

Forest green and light brown eyes met in a silent exchange. "There have been cases of bandit attacks, more now than in the past," Mika answered. "Even though we don't have much, we are a successful troupe, and the bandits know what successful troupes look like."

Because of Ino's espionage training, she noticed the signs that they weren't saying something, probably the real reason for the guards, but finding that out wasn't her mission, so she didn't press the issue. It was very unlikely that it had to do with Konoha's safety, particularly since they'd never been to Fire Country. Instead, she made small talk with them until they got up to go to their respective rooms. Ino followed suit, knowing what waited for her back at her room. She wasn't disappointed.

After another night of intense training and little sleep, Misao got her up early to get ready for the next week. Giving Ino an apple for her breakfast, Misao told her that even though they wouldn't have time to train during the day, they would still have a small training workout at night, though not as intense because they needed to be on their feet all day while in town. Ino wished she had taken that into consideration the previous night; she could barely keep her eyes open.

The troupe was bustling all around, and Ino wandered around, trying to find the right stall. Mika had to snag her because she started to walk right by it. "Are you all right?" the woman asked, looking concerned. "You don't look like you slept well."

"I'll be fine," Ino muttered, munching on her apple. "I just need to wake up a little more."

"You'd better wake up soon because here they come."

Ino looked in the direction that Mika was and saw a wave of people coming their way. From that point until closing, she and Mika sold food and small trinkets to people. Ino didn't know where anything was, but Mika answered all the direction questions with ease. Throughout the day, Ino saw that Mika always smiled whenever someone came by, and she was friendly the entire time. She didn't know how she did it. The woman was pregnant and on her feet all day, but she didn't let any weariness show.

The only time Mika rested was when Shin stopped by and ordered her to sit down while he took over her job. Ino remembered Mika saying that he wanted any excuse to get out of doing this, but he seemed awfully insistent on doing a job that he didn't want. Like Mika, he kept up a friendly smile and seemed to know the location of every place that a tourist wanted to get to.

When it was time to close, Mika scooted over to Ino and said, "You know, I've never seen him this enthusiastic about working the stalls. I think someone is interested in you."

"I think he was just concerned about you," replied Ino as she stacked the unused trays. She had to struggle to get her arms to lift that high, and the top was even with her head. This plus training at night equaled a useless Ino. "You wouldn't rest unless he came over and made you. You need to take it easy, but you're pushing along just like everyone else."

"We all have to do our part. But even when he was working, he was constantly looking over at you. Didn't you notice?"

Ino did notice, but she chose to say otherwise. She really didn't need a relationship right now; it would only distract her from her goal. "He did not. And even if he did, it's just because I'm new here," she stated. "He'll stop doing it once the newness wears off."

Mika hummed but didn't say anything further.

~*~

The week was over before Ino realized it. Because Misao kept her from sleeping enough, something she didn't even do when she was training under Asuma except under dire conditions, the days flowed into one another, and it took her a second to realize what Mika was talking about when she congratulated Ino on completing her first week of work with the group. "You did well for your first time working with us," the pregnant woman said. "It takes most people a few stops before they can keep up."

"Really? Thanks." _That was nothing. What we had to go through at the Academy was way worse than that. What made this whole week so miserable was the lack of rest._ Ino made sure her thoughts didn't show on her face.

Mika groaned and put a hand on her stomach. "Calm down," she said, patting the baby. "You'll be born soon enough."

"When is she due?" asked Ino.

"Soon. It's been almost seven months."

Ino gasped. "You shouldn't be moving around!" she exclaimed.

She would have said more, but Mika shook her head. "I can't afford to," she said, waddling around to the door and letting herself out of the stall. "I have to do my part to help out. We troupe women are strong." She smiled, her green eyes hidden by her hair. Pushing back her long bangs with one hand, she and Ino started walking back to the inn. "My mother did the same when she was pregnant with me and my siblings, and now it's my turn."

"So you were born in this troupe?"

Mika nodded. "Yup. I was the thirteenth child born to my mother."

"Where's your family then?" As far as Ino had seen, Mika lived alone, and she hadn't seen anyone that resembled her. Ever since she had met Mika, she had had a suspicion that they were related somehow, and it would be unfortunate if one of her relatives lived here and ran into her. She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep her persona up, especially if it was one of her father's family members.

Mika's eyes grew clouded. "There was an accident. We were crossing a bridge, and a rider came through from the opposite direction. He had lost control of his horse, and he almost trampled one of my brothers. My father got him out of the way, but the bridge was narrow and unstable, and he lost his balance and fell into the ravine below. Sano sent men to look for him, but they wouldn't let my mother see his body. I heard the men talking later, and they said he was unrecognizable. My mother never recovered."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Ino said, sympathy welling up inside her. If either of her parents died, she would be inconsolable. Words couldn't begin to describe the relief she felt when her father moved into the T&I department and worked from an office instead of the field most of the time. She still got anxious when he went out on assignment, but she supposed it was a fair trade since she made both her parents feel much worse when she was the one with the dangerous mission.

She thought Mika would stop, but the other woman continued. "A few years later, a group of bandits came, and we drove them off, but not before they took my three eldest sisters and killed two of my brothers. Illness came through the camp and took another brother and sister. After that, my mother decided that she couldn't deal with it anymore, so the next town we came to, she stayed with the rest of my siblings. I chose to stay with the troupe, and that's how things stand today."

"Why didn't you stay with your family?" _This girl has seen so much death, and she isn't in the business like I am. How can she still be so cheerful?_

Shrugging, Mika sidestepped a frozen puddle. "This was the only life I've ever known. My mother married into the troupe, so she knew what it was like to live outside it. My older siblings were worried about my mother, and they didn't want to lose any more brothers or sisters. My younger siblings still needed my mother to look after them. I guess I did, too, but I didn't want to leave the troupe." She gave a sad smile. "My mother tried to make me stay. I was only eight at the time, but I snuck out with the troupe while she slept. I visited every once in a while, but not recently. She's remarried, and her husband seems to treat her well."

"So…how many siblings do you have?"

Again, she shrugged. "Who knows?" she laughed. "It doesn't matter, really. I never see them, so it's like I'm not part of the family anymore. I still have the troupe, and I'm starting my own family now." She patted her round middle.

The next day was taken up with pulling everything down, repacking it, and moving out. Ino made sure to stay close to Mika so she could keep an eye on her. That woman didn't know the meaning of taking it easy; she would attempt to do things that were dangerous in her condition, and either Ino or Shin would need to step in and direct her to a safer occupation. Ino worried that all the moving would hurt the baby and cause her to go into an early labor, but Mika refused to let up her pace. She could see that Shin was also worried about her and was more protective of her than Ino. The thought crossed her mind that maybe Shin was the father of her baby, but she dismissed it as soon as it came. He seemed like a good, dedicated man, and he would have taken her to live with him if he'd been the father. And he wouldn't try to flirt with Ino in front of Mika if that was the case.

During the traveling to new towns and performance times, Misao drilled Ino in both the shinobi arts and ice skating. She rarely got enough sleep, and it seemed as though black circles were permanently etched under her eyes. Putting in her contacts became easier each time, and she started getting used to the stranger in the mirror. Pretty soon, she wouldn't recognize the old Ino if she ever stopped dying her hair and coloring her eyes.

To Ino's irritation and Mika's amusement, Shin continued to find reasons that would keep him near Ino and Mika. Sometimes Mika wasn't there, so it was just Ino. He was nice enough, but he was becoming less and less subtle about his interest in Ino. It wasn't that he was ugly; if Ino had been the same person that she was when she first became a Genin, then she would've taken to him, if only for a few weeks. However, a relationship right now could only distract her from her Jounin qualification mission, and when she returned to Konoha, she would have to leave any boyfriends she found behind. But no matter how many times she pushed him away, Shin would always come back for one more try.

They were visiting their seventh town since Ino joined the troupe, and Ino was practicing a minor bit of choreography on the ice under the supervision of Misao when Shin came sprinting over. "Hikari, Mika's baby is coming!" he shouted.

In the middle of a slow spin, Ino wobbled and fell down, skidding into the snow bank. "Right now?" she panted once she got her head out of the snow.

He nodded, pulling her to her feet; Misao had taken off as soon as he shouted the news. "She's been due for a few days, and the doctor's with her now. She wanted you to know."

"How is she doing?" asked Ino as she pulled off her skates as fast as she could. The cold made her hands clumsy, and she couldn't feel her fingers even though they were covered with thick mittens.

"I left as soon as she said she wanted you to know. It looked painful though."

A scream ripped through the air. Ino abandoned tying her shoes and ran, Shin by her side. In Konoha, Ino had been present for several births in her training as a Medic-nin, and that wasn't a usual birthing scream. Something was wrong.

Shin led the way back to the town, but they both stopped short when they saw the town square. People dressed in black were attacking the townspeople and the troupe, and while they didn't outnumber the civilians, it was obvious to Ino's trained eyes that they were seasoned fighters. Blood already stained the snow in the square, and she could see people drag the injured away before they could be killed. Some already lay in the snow, unmoving. The frozen fountain in the middle of the square had splotches of blood running down the stone spire in the middle, and several bodies decorated the frozen base. Beside her, Shin hissed and crouched down. "Bandits," he said under his breath. "Of all the times to attack."

Before Ino could stop him, he threw himself into the fray, weaponless except for his fists. She was about to follow him when a bandit spotted her and charged over. Because he came from her blind side, she didn't realize what had happened until he had already smashed into her and she was on the ground, her breath knocked out of her lungs. Looking up she saw the bandit leer at her. "Nope, you're not the one," he said, "but that's all the better for me. I can keep you instead of kill you."

Moving fast, Ino brought in her legs and kicked, sending him flying backwards. Rolling over her shoulder she got into a crouch, looking for where he landed. To her relief, he was still down on the ground, rolling around in pain. Satisfied, the young kunoichi joined the main fighting, using one of her hidden kunai that all shinobi kept on their person. However, she made sure that she didn't let the others see her kunai; that would have blown her cover. It made fighting more difficult, but not impossible.

After a time, she ended up side by side with Misao. "Are you hurt?" she asked the older woman.

"No, I've been lucky," Misao responded, whacking a bandit aside with a broken table leg. "I feel as though I haven't retired at all. But why are you still here? The doctors and nurses are taking care of the injured, so no one has time to tend to Mika."

"Where is she?" A bandit tried to skewer the two of them with a sword, but Misao stopped it with her table let, and Ino smashed his temple with the hilt of her kunai. He went down without a sound.

Wiping her forehead and leaving a trail of red blood, Misao nodded to a building farther down to the right. "That's the town's hospital. We situated her right before the bandits arrived."

"Right." Ino ran into the alley beside the house she and Misao had been in front of and, when she was sure that no one could see her, scaled the wall to the roof. Running along, she could see violence all over the place, not just the town square. The town wasn't very big, and it had been pure luck that the nearby alley was vacant.

The shingles on the roofs she ran across were slick with partly melted snow, and she slipped several times before coming to the hospital. The door leading to the inside was locked, so she had to spend several minutes picking it; another skill she had allowed to rust. When the door opened, she ran down the hall, startling several nurses. Ino imagined she must look awful; the fighting made her sweaty, and she had been cut several times. As much as she wanted to use her Bloodline ability to locate Mika, she couldn't risk it. If for some reason the bug had found out that she was here and sent the bandits, then there were good odds there was a shinobi who would be able to recognize her mind touch, and the mission would be blown. Instead she reached out and grabbed the arm of a passing nurse and panted, "Do you know where Mika is? The woman having a baby?"

The nurse, a young-looking woman barely out of her childhood, shook her head, and Ino moved on to a different person. It took seven nurses and three doctors before she found her target. Mika was alone, which Ino didn't like, but she knew that this place was hard-pressed for trained physicians, and the injured were worse off than Mika. Coming around the curtain separating Mika from the rest of the still-empty room, Ino saw that she was already covered in sweat. "Hey," she said, sitting beside Mika's head. "How are you holding up?"

Looking over, Mika's green eyes lightened when she saw Ino. "Hikari, I'm glad Shin found you. What's happening?"

The room Mika was situated in had no window, for which Ino was grateful; it spared her the grisly sight outside. She didn't want to tell Mika about the attack because it would cause her concern, but she couldn't find a way to explain why there were no nurses or doctors in here with her. "There's a bandit raid going on," she said, watching worry enter Mika's eyes. "There aren't that many of them that I could see, but the doctors are tending to the injured. But don't worry, I'll take care of you!" She smiled reassuringly at her.

Ino's statement was met with skepticism. "You know how to birth a child?" asked Mika.

"That's your job, not mine," Ino replied. "I'm going to take care of you and help you along when you need it. I've done this before in my village, so I know what to do."

Mika relaxed. "That's good. I was worried that I would be alone when the baby came."

A series of contractions hit, and Mika's face scrunched in pain. She started to retract her legs, but Ino stopped her. "You have to keep them there," she said. "I know it hurts, but you have to keep you legs out."

Outside Ino could hear the faint sounds of the clashes between the bandits and the people in the town. She wondered if Shin was all right; he had gone in without anything to defend himself, and he wasn't a shinobi. Because of her training, Ino's instincts told her to go out and help, but if she did, then Mika wouldn't have anyone to help her, and she needed all the help she could get. Even though women had given birth in the troupe while Mika was there, she had never been present for any of them, and she had no idea what to do. Ino had to keep reminding her to do things, and sometimes she had to hold her down when the contractions became too much for her. She needed painkillers, but the ones the hospital had were being used on the injured from the attack, so Ino had to use small amounts of her own chakra to block as much pain as she could. The amount of chakra used could have been generated from a small animal, so she felt it was safe enough for that bit.

On the other side of the curtain, Ino could hear the room beginning to fill with people. Now that more patients occupied the room, a doctor or nurse would stop by to check on her, but they would hurry away to their next patient. Mika tried to talk to Ino, but the contractions left her with little energy, and she mostly lay there, staring at the wall her bed touched. Reaching over, Ino brushed Mika's pale bangs away from her forehead. "When will it be over?" asked Mika, her voice barely above a whisper. She and Ino had been here for over seven hours.

"Soon, I hope," Ino answered, not sure if she was talking about the labor or the fighting outside. Injured were still pouring into the hospital.

The blonde on the bed sighed. "Why now?" she murmured, more to herself than Ino.

"Bandits always choose the most inopportune times to attack," said Ino, certain that the last comment was about the fighting. "Don't worry, everything will be fine, and your baby will be born healthy and strong."

"I hope so."

The fighting and labor continued on through the next day. Ino wanted to run out and help, but she couldn't. She did what she could in the night when the patients were asleep, but she couldn't leave Mika for long, and she had to make sure that the amount of chakra expended wasn't over a certain amount. However, she healed enough people that they were ready to help others or go join the fighting again. Both the patients and the doctors were puzzled at the quick recovery, but other pressing concerns stopped them from looking deeper into the matter. More people took their places, and Ino wondered how many bandits there really were. Even if they were trained fighters, there was no way that they could still be causing this much damage. They should've been routed at the very least by now.

Neither Mika nor Ino kept track of the passing time. All that mattered was how long the contractions were and how long until the next set hit. A hand on Ino's shoulder caused her to look up; Mika just finished another set of contractions, and she lay against the pillows, exhausted. Misao stood behind her, looking haggard and older than she had a few days before. "It's over," she said. "The bandits are gone, but there are many injured people." Her brown eyes looked at Mika's pale face. "She's still in labor?"

Ino nodded. "How long has it been?"

Misao moved to Mika's other side. "She went into labor forty hours ago. How is she?"

"Tired. She won't eat, and no one has been able to stay with her except me."

Misao nodded and lowered her voice. "It's good that you weren't out there. I didn't sense any shinobi with them, but that doesn't mean there weren't any. We were lucky that no one noticed you fighting earlier. Ishigawa Hikari wouldn't have known how to fight like that."

Ino looked at her, shocked that she would talk about their mission so casually in front of Mika, but Misao shook her head. "She can't hear us," she said, glancing down at Mika. "She's not focused on anything except the contractions now."

Ino looked down at Mika again, then back at Misao. "She can't keep this up," she said. "It's taken too much of a toll on her, and if the baby doesn't come with the next set of contractions, she won't make it, and neither will the baby."

Misao nodded and rolled up her sleeves. "Then I guess we'd better help," she stated. "When the next set starts, we're going to give her a chakra jolt. I know it's dangerous, but we'll lose them both if the baby doesn't come on her own, you said." At Ino's nod she continued. "So we have no choice. There aren't any shinobi near enough to sense it, so we'll risk it."

Ino hesitated, but Misao was already placing a clean hand on Mika's shoulder in preparation of the contractions. Mimicking Misao, Ino stood up in time for Mika to cry out as her last contractions started. "Make them stop!" she begged. "I can't do this anymore!"

"Keep pushing, girl," Misao said, channeling her chakra into her. "You're doing fine."

It took five minutes and more chakra than either Ino or Misao had expected before the baby came out. After three minutes, Misao left Mika's head and went down to check if the baby was visible. "I can see the head," she said and stayed down there, leaving Ino to do all the channeling.

Both Misao and Ino had to keep up a steady stream of encouragement. Mika had been doing this for over a day, and she had had no food or sleep since her water broke. Even with the extra chakra jolt she only just managed to push out the baby into Misao's waiting hands, then she collapsed, panting and devoid of all energy. Ino tended to Mika, knowing that Misao would take care of the baby. Taking a water bottle that Mika had previously pushed away Ino held it up to the pale woman's lips and said, "Mika, you need to drink something."

Mika's eyelids fluttered, and she reached over and took the water bottle from her hands. "I want to see my baby," she said.

"You can after you drink," Ino assured her. Walking down to Mika's legs, she watched Misao finish cleaning and wrapping the newborn in a soft towel. "Congratulations, Mika," said Misao, positioning Mika's arms and deposition the baby into them. "You have a daughter."

"My baby," the blonde murmured, smiling at the red face in her arms.

It warmed Ino's heart to see them together, but a moving redness brought her attention back down Mika's legs. The blood was still coming out fast. Grabbing another towel she warmed it with her chakra and tried stopping the blood, but it soaked through the towel within seconds. "Oh no, she's hemorrhaging," she muttered. "Are you sure there aren't any shinobi in the area?" she asked Misao.

Closing her eyes Misao paused, then opened them again. "None within sensing distance," she said.

"Good." Ino put her hands on Mika's knees. The amount of chakra required to stop hemorrhaging was more than a person with no training was capable of generating, and any shinobi within a certain distance would be able to sense it. Ino's hands glowed green with healing chakra, and she hoped Mika was too busy admiring her baby to notice and no one would come by to check on them. Calling up the instructions she had received from various medic shinobi, she worked to stem the flow of blood. She heard Misao directing people away from the new mother and her baby so they wouldn't see Ino working.

It didn't take very long. The blood was diverted to where it was supposed to go, and Mika's body regained some of its former vigor. However, it took a good chunk of Ino's chakra, and she felt more exhausted than when she stayed in enemy territory during espionage runs and was in constant danger of being discovered. Once she had ascertained that the hemorrhaging had stopped she slumped over, unconscious before she hit the floor.

Ino couldn't see, but when she worked to stop the bleeding, Mika's eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth opened in a gasp. Misao noticed and hurried over to Mika's head. "How do you feel?" she asked, trying to divert her attention from Ino.

"I…I feel strange," Mika responded. "Light-headed."

"That's probably from the loss of blood, dear," Misao assured her.

Mika looked convinced, and once Ino stopped the chakra flow into her, she fell asleep while Misao took the baby and put it in the monitored crib waiting outside the curtain. Once the baby was safely inside the confines of the crib, Misao turned her attention to her newest, unconscious student. "You're lucky these bandits weren't shinobi here for you, girl," she told Ino's body. She shook her head and hauled Ino off the floor. _We both need to be more careful from now on, though. She could've been seen, and Hikari isn't supposed to know how to handle kunai or even have seen them before. Misao, you're slipping in your old age._


	4. Chapter 4

When Ino came to, she was in an unfamiliar place. She was in a bed, which meant that she wasn’t in one of the troupe’s tents, and the white ceiling wasn’t from the inn where they had been staying. Sitting up made all her muscles scream in protest, but she ignored it. She was alone in what looked like part of a hospital ward. She made to get out of bed when a voice to her other side cried, “Hikari, you’re awake!”

Snapping her head around Ino saw Shin sit up and blink at her. His bloodshot eyes told Ino that he had been sleeping, and her movement roused him. Even though he was only half-awake, he grinned at her. “We were worried about you,” he said. “You haven’t woken up since Mika’s baby was born.”

“How long have I been out?” she asked. The room was spinning from sitting up too fast, but she resisted the urge to lie back down. Without the support of the wall next to her, it wouldn’t have matter what she wanted. Nausea from the dizziness washed over her. _Don’t throw up,_ she willed her body. Her stomach rolled and twisted in response.

“It’s been almost a week. We tried to wake you up, but your aunt told us to leave you alone, that you’d be fine with enough rest. I’m glad she was right.”

“How are Mika and the baby?” She should listen to the answer and not just give Shin half an ear, but her body was demanding more of her attention than he was. Damn her low chakra limit! No wonder she was useless in a fight! Just a few techniques that needed a large amount of chakra and she was already down for the count. When she got her body under control, she would make a note to Misao to give her more chakra endurance exercises.

“They’re both doing fine,” he assured her. Her attempts to control herself through sheer will were not working, so she allowed her eyes to wander to get her mind on something else. On her perusal of the room, her gaze swept over the man beside her, and she noticed a new set of scars along his arms. She wondered that he came out of the attack with only those, and a pain not related to her nausea bit her insides. He shouldn’t have been exposed to something like this, not with performance as his profession. His soft brown eyes also seemed older than when he ran to get her from skating. “Mika’s been worried about you, but she relaxed when I told her I’d stay here and keep an eye on you.”

“Well, that’s very kind of you,” Ino said, fighting to keep her insides from leaving her body with her words. “Were we able to drive off the bandits?”

He nodded, the grin slipping from his face. “We’ve seen bandit attacks before, but never like this. From what I’ve heard, there was no warning, and they killed more people than a usual raid. They weren’t ordinary bandits. They didn’t take anything, which isn’t what bandits do. They attack so they can take money or items of value, and sometimes they make off with our women.” He shook himself. “I’m sorry, Hikari, you probably already know that, being the victim of something similar.”

“They didn’t take anything?”

Shaking his head, Shin stood. “You must be starving,” he said, changing the subject. “I’ll go get you some food.”

He left before she could tell him that was the exact opposite of what she wanted to see at the moment, and a few minutes later, Misao entered and sat in the chair Shin vacated. “So you’ve decided to join us again,” she said in greeting. “You expended too much chakra and caused your body to shut down.” The reprimand in her voice was unmistakable.

“If I hadn’t stopped the bleeding, she would have died,” protested Ino. “I don’t know of any other women who just gave birth in the troupe, so the baby would have starved to death.”

Misao sighed. “You medic-nin are all the same, giving your own life away to save a patient. Tsunade taught you well. And in case you’re wondering, both Mika and the baby are doing fine.”

Ino dismissed the last comment. The man running to get her food had already told her that. “Shin told me that the bandits didn’t loot or take any women with them. I don’t think those were bandits, or else they were the most disciplined bandits I’ve ever seen,” Ino said. “You said that there were no shinobi with them, which means that they weren’t after me, or the person in charge severely underestimated my ability and those around me.”

“No, they weren’t after you,” agreed Misao. “The person above your target will know better than to underestimate an espionage expert, the Yamanakas in particular. Those bandits were after something else.”

“But what could have been important enough that they would attack a town that has a decent population and our troupe? They weren’t acting like bandits, so I think that they were just disguised as bandits.”

“Who do you think they were?” Misao asked, her green eyes watching Ino’s face.

“They were experienced fighters, and they weren’t unorganized,” replied Ino, thinking back to when she and Shin came upon them, then her observations later during the fighting. “I would assume that they were soldiers sent to hunt something. They weren’t assassins because assassins work either solo or in small groups, not a huge mass like the bandits.” Ino’s pale hands tightened their grip on the sheets of her bed. “You said that you didn’t sense any shinobi present, so they weren’t from a hidden village. Soldiers are the only believable option that I can come up with.”

Before either of them could say more, Shin reappeared with food in his hands. Ino hadn’t realized how quick a person could go from feeling nauseous to famished until she saw the steaming bowl of ramen on the tray, and she attacked it with vigor, ignoring Misao’s laugh and Shin’s surprised look. “She hasn’t eaten in five days,” Misao told Shin. “What did you expect?”

The ramen, tangerines, and warmed apple cider were gone in record time, but Ino didn’t care; she would have eaten three cheeseburgers if Shin had given them to her, and to heck with dieting. Her eyes stung from having the colored contacts in for so long, and when she saw her hair, it was definitely lighter than it had been. She hoped that no one else noticed. Giving her attention to Misao and Shin, she asked, “How many casualties were there?”

“Too many,” Misao answered, her voice grim. “The town lost a good deal of its citizens, and we lost some talented performers. We’re going to need to come up with a new performance since so many of our performers are gone now.”

Shin nodded.  “We have a lot of injured, but most of the wounds aren’t serious since they were treated in time, so they’ll make a full recovery, but they’ll need time. Meanwhile, they won’t be able to perform.” It surprised Ino how in stride he took the whole ordeal. Yes, the troupe had bandit raids, but this was on a different scale than something like that, yet he wasn’t panicking or giving into despair. To top it all off, he ran into the fight and came out with little more than scratches. Shadows had entered his eyes, and he looked like he was favoring his left arm, but that was the worst of it. Her respect for him went up a few notches.

Misao turned to the brown-haired man at her side. “Shin, why don’t you get Mika? I’m sure she wants to see Hikari now that she’s awake.”

He jumped up. “You’re right, I forgot.” He bolted out the door.

“You know, he stayed here with you the entire time you were unconscious,” Misao told Ino. The chair the woman sat in creaked as she shifted her weight. “I think you frightened him, fainting like that.”

“He’s a good friend, both to me and to Mika.” When he wasn’t trying to get her interested in him in a more intimate fashion. Her attitude toward his actions evolved from outright annoyance to resignation. If he wanted to set himself up to get his emotions stomped on, then it was his own fault. She’d given him plenty of warning.

“He didn’t stay with Mika. He checked on her, then stayed with you the rest of the time. He’s a good man.”

Ino knew where this was going and sighed. “I can’t afford to form any attachments right now,” she said. _I feel like a broken record player._ “My first priority is to my village.”

Misao chuckled. “You do realize that it could be years before Tsunade recalls you, don’t you? This bug is clever, and she hasn’t been able to narrow down the list much. By the time you get the call, you could be married and have children of your own, and I doubt that she would blame you. You could do worse than Shin.”

Ino didn’t respond. She didn’t know why Misao was pushing for a relationship with Shin. Certainly she and Ino got along well, but she wasn’t close enough to the younger kunoichi to try to get her to marry into the troupe so she would always be close by. However, she seemed very close to the members of the performance troupe, like they were all her family. Maybe she just wanted Shin to be happy, and she thought that Ino could do that for him. If she knew how Ino was back when she was a Genin, she’d change her tune around right quick! She had gone through boyfriends like she did shoes, getting new ones once she tired of them. It had been a few years since she last had a boyfriend, instead going for the novelty of being single, and she’d stuck to it ever since. She supposed that she just hadn’t found anyone worth the hassle.

Shin and Mika’s voices could be heard before either kunoichi saw them. Then the two performers crossed the curtain barrier, Mika holding her baby in her arms. She looked much better than the last time Ino saw her, but at the time she was drenched in sweat from the effort of childbirth, and her tears stained her pale hair. The young mother’s eyes lit up when she saw Ino. “Hikari, I’m so glad you’re awake,” she said. “We were all worried about you. Are you feeling all right?”

Smiling at Mika’s concern, Ino nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. Shin was by me, and he fed me when I woke up.”

“Oh good.” Relief showed on her face. “He promised he would stay with you, and I’m glad he kept his word.” She ignored his squawk of indignation. “Thank you for your help with the baby. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Ino looked at the sleeping child in Mika’s arms. “I’m happy to be there anytime you need moral support.” That’s all she did for Mika as far as the other woman knew. “Have you named her yet?”

Mika’s face glowed as she looked down at her infant daughter. “Her name is Sayo, like my mother.”

“It’s a lovely name,” Ino told her. “I’m sure she’ll grow up to be as strong as you and your mother.”

~*~

After the attack, the troupe stayed in the village to help the townspeople and to recover from their own losses. Once Ino was able to move about on her own, she helped out in the hospital and saw for herself the damage wrought by the raid. Many of the injured were civilians who had no fighting experience, and some of them were only children. The sight infuriated Ino; if the “bandits” were soldiers like she thought, then they should have known better than to attack anyone other than trained fighters, and hurting children was even worse. They’d better hope she never ran into them again.

The list that contained the names of the dead was long, and Ino recognized many from the troupe. The ground was frozen solid, so they couldn’t bury the dead. Instead, they cremated all the bodies together in a huge bonfire. The stench of burning flesh lingered over the town for days, and the white ash was indiscernible from the snow that covered the blood-soaked ground.

It hurt Ino to walk past the fiery pyre, but it was in the middle of everything, so unless she wanted to take long detours everywhere, there was no helping it. The bodies were piled up next to it so the ones responsible for throwing them into the pit didn’t have to go searching for them. That job belonged to someone else. But because the bodies were all here, they stared with unseeing eyes at their former neighbors and family members as they walked past. While Ino was more used to death than most of the people exposed to this, the children’s eyes pierced her soul as though accusing her of not saving them. She couldn’t stop her own tears when she recognized some of the children from the troupe. Dropping to the ground, she knelt by the body of a small, black-haired boy and closed his eyes with trembling hands. He was the one who would alert her and Misao that the troupe was getting ready to move out. Closing her eyes, she could recall his high voice shouting in excitement that it was time to go. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered even though he was long past hearing.

Just to the side of the boy, listlessly leaning to the side, someone had placed a worn, stuffed bunny rabbit. The short fur was worn, and its button eyes gazed out at nothing. On its white belly was stitched an unusual feather pattern of gold, white, and scarlet thread, the only thing to set it apart from other toy rabbits than Ino had seen. The owner of that rabbit must be either on the pyre or else waiting his turn. Without thinking about it, Ino picked up the rabbit and hugged it to her body, shaking with suppressed sobs. She was a shinobi! She should be used to this sort of thing! But the sight of the children’s bodies pushed her over the edge. It wasn’t something she thought she could ever get used to. Stumbling back to her feet, she made her uneven way back to her tent, the rabbit still tucked in her arms.

Even if the bandits hadn’t looted, they had destroyed enough that the troupe’s supply of tents and souvenirs were in short supply, and they would all need to buddy up with each other to survive once they left the town. The troupe did what they could to assist in rebuilding parts of the town since that was only proper, but even with their help, it still wasn’t enough. Townspeople and troupe members all huddled around fires surrounded by broken walls and glass and homes with gaping holes. The snow and cold, which the troupe needed to make their money, became cursed since there was no escaping it.

What happened next was truly unfortunate for Ino. Unbeknownst to her, the head of the town sent a messenger to the nearest shinobi village for help, which should have taken quite some time to get to. While the messenger was only a few days out, he ran into a group of shinobi on escort duty. He explained their plight to them, and they should have let him continue on his merry way after that since they didn’t have the authorization to do anything. One of the shinobi took pity on the man, and even though that should have had no impact on the situation, she also happened to have the headset to communicate with her base. And so the messenger returned less than a week after departing with a full contingent of shinobi, the escort and the escorted in tow. While this was not great news for Ino, she wasn’t so familiar with other Hidden Village shinobi that she thought any of them would recognize her like this. No, the problem lay in the shinobi that the escort was accompanying back to the Hidden Village. Those were Konoha shinobi.

Because they had the messenger, a civilian, with them, the shinobi couldn’t use chakra to boost their speed, so it came as a complete surprise when they arrived. Ino didn’t even know they were in town until she saw a tall back with a familiar, shaggy mane. As it was, she did a double-take, but the Jounin vest didn’t disappear. _What is Kakashi-sensei doing here?_ she wondered, watching him give an older woman a kind word and offer her a blanket. The brightly-hued blanket wasn’t a standard shinobi blanket, and the requested supplies couldn’t have gotten here so fast, so she had no idea where the blanket had come from. _This isn’t part of Fire Country. Why would the Godaime send him here?_ The idea of him coming with the shinobi who were responsible for this region was so far-fetched that she didn’t even consider it at first.

He waved good bye to the woman and strode off in the direction of the tents where the troupe stayed since so many homes were destroyed or rendered unlivable during the attack. Since that was Ino’s destination as well, she followed him at a distance. The icy wind cut her exposed skin, and she kept her gloved hands in her pockets in an attempt to shield them. As she walked, she noticed several people passing by that had supplies of some sort and wore the vests signifying their Jounin status to the world. However, the hitai-ite did not bear the leaf symbol of Konoha, and she didn’t recognize their faces, so the only conclusion she could come to was that Kakashi-sensei was indeed here with the shinobi in charge of the town.

But it wasn’t just Kakashi-sensei from Konoha. She saw him stop right next to the back of her tent where there was little foot traffic and speak to some people outside her line of vision. Slipping into her tent and grabbing her polishing rag, she sat down near the back wall and pretended to polish her still-clean ice skates while she strained her ears to hear the Jounin’s conversation. Because of the way the sun was angled, Kakashi-sensei’s shadow and the shadows of his compatriots cast their silhouettes against the wall, and Ino had to force herself to not overreact as she recognized them. She would know that loudmouthed Naruto’s profile anywhere. She had made a point of learning it back in the Academy since he took particular delight in pranking the unwary, but she managed to avoid most of his attempts to startle her by learning to watch for his shadow. He never figured out that was why she kept the light to her back at all times. And how could she ever forget the other shadow’s profile? She had grown up knowing that slouch, and seeing the shadowy pineapple and hearing his low voice brought an intense relief coursing through her. With her teammate nearby, everything would be all right. He would never let anything happen to her.

Those thoughts did make her freeze. Her rag stopped mid-polish. _Yamanaka Ino!_ she scolded herself. _Why are you here again? To wait until Hokage-sama makes a list of possible informants in Konoha. Any of them might be the informant!_ She started scrubbing the skates with renewed vigor. _I will not let my guard down!_ To further repress any feelings that would lead to the contrary, she brought to the forefront of her mind the last time she saw her teammate in the flesh. A fire burned in her belly as she recalled his words, and it wouldn’t have surprised her if she opened her mouth and flames spewed forth. No, she would not rely on any of them for help! The small desire to just catch a glimpse of Shikamaru from a distance was squashed before her memory of that night. _I’ll show him I can be relied on. I’ll show all of them!_

While Ino’s inner dialogue played out in her mind, Kakashi-sensei murmured instructions to Shikamaru, who didn’t straighten from his usual slouch and just grunted his assent. Ino’s brown eyes followed his bobbing pineapple as he stalked away, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants. That just left Kakashi-sensei and Naruto standing by her tent. The shadow of Kakashi-sensei laid a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, and even though his instructions were said even softer than when he spoke with Shikamaru, Ino focused her ears and caught it. “Watch him, Naruto,” the older man ordered. Unlike the usual laid-back attitude the Jounin displayed, his voice was serious.

“Right!” Naruto’s head nodded sharply, and he bounded off in the direction Shikamaru took. Ino had to shake her head at that. No matter how strong the man got or how great a shinobi he was, Naruto still was as subtle as a dancing elephant.

With the shinobi around, Ino’s training came to an abrupt stop. While she would have cautiously agreed to continue, Misao was adamant about doing nothing to draw attention to Ino, particularly when members of her own Hidden Village were present and could identify her in a heartbeat. So Ino did her best to avoid all shinobi as much as she could, but they were everywhere! She would turn a corner, and one would stand not five feet away. She ran errands for Misao to get some exercise and stay warm in the constantly frigid weather, and she would pass at least three at a time before arriving at her destination only to find another one nearby. Avoiding them was an exercise in futility, but she could and would avoid gaining their attention. Naruto seemed to be everywhere, sending shadow clones left and right to help with rebuilding and assisting the injured. But the one she ran into the most was Shikamaru. It was like he had a magnet attached to him and pulled her wherever he was. He never spoke to her, and she didn’t approach him. Even though she kept her distance, her emotions surged when she saw him, and it bewildered her. _Am I so homesick that I get this relieved when I see him?_ she wondered. As much as she thought about this curious response to her teammate, that was the only explanation she could come up with. He reminded her of home. Seeing him made her feel like she was home. She didn’t get the same response when she saw the other Konoha shinobi, so it must be linked to her and Shikamaru being teammates and the camaraderie they had developed over their years together. Of course, those feelings also made it hard for her to stay away from him. More often than she thought she would need to, she kept that last night with him and Chouji in her mind and flashed it before her eyes so she wouldn’t do something stupid and “accidently” say something that would give her away. It also helped that a Naruto clone was _always_ with him. Or maybe it was the real Naruto, she couldn’t tell. But she never saw Shikamaru without a splash of orange being in the general vicinity as well. She could tell it got on Shikamaru’s nerves from the way his spine seemed to stiffen more and more as the days went by. She would’ve thought the stress would drive him to smoke, but not once did she see even a hint of a cigarette.

Since the weather and the troupe’s current living conditions were not conducive to the good health of a newborn baby, Mika and Sayo stayed in the hospital, and Ino was leaving them to return to her tent when she noticed Shikamaru pass right by her with a strange look on his face. It was dark, and the shadows could have been playing tricks on her, but it looked like he was trying not to cry. His eyes were bloodshot, and he appeared to be biting his lower lip. Before Ino could get a second look, he was already past and heading back into the dark. _That can’t be right,_ she told herself. _Shikamaru isn’t a crybaby anymore. I can’t remember the last time I saw him cry. Maybe when Asuma-sensei died?_ But it still concerned her enough that she followed at a distance, making sure not to be obvious about it. Hurt feelings aside, she wanted to make sure he was okay. Shikamaru wasn’t one to cry at the drop of a hat. And the puzzling thing was he seemed fine earlier, so whatever upset him must have come recently.

Instead of heading to a specific destination, the Nara seemed to be wandering without direction. Even with other people out and about, no one had as bad posture as he did, so Ino didn’t have to work at keeping an eye on him. The icy wind got into her hood, stinging her eyes and making them burn. As the unhelpful tears threatened to spill down her cheeks and make her even colder, realization struck. _Ino, you’re such an idiot,_ she scolded herself. Shikamaru looked the way he did because of the cold. He was no more immune to the wind than she was, and that’s what made his eyes bloodshot; they were too dry. And the wind could have chapped his lips, which would explain why he was biting them. He was just trying to return moisture to his body. She shook her head, laughing at herself and her silly assumptions. _I’ve been away for too long if the first thing I think of is Shikamaru crying._

Ever the faithful watchdog, Naruto popped up beside Shikamaru out of nowhere, getting no reaction from the shadow shinobi but startling Ino just as she started turning away. No one was paying attention to her, but just in case, she hid the movement by reaching up to adjust her hood so it blocked more of the wind from her face. Unlike Ino, Naruto was looking at Shikamaru with open concern, like the man would spill his soul just from the power of Naruto’s stare. The wind whipped his blond hair in crazy directions, but he ignored it. On Shikamaru’s end, he gave the interloper an annoyed glare. “I’m fine, Naruto,” he snapped, sounding like this was a continuation of a previous argument. “I don’t need you standing over me like I’m going to hurt myself at any second.”

The blue-eyed shinobi didn’t look like he took offense to Shikamaru’s response to his presence. Sad and concerned, yes, but not offended. “Kakashi-sensei wants to talk to you about some of the plans,” he said instead.

Apparently in the few months she’d been gone, Shikamaru had perfected the art of glaring daggers at people. His gaze wasn’t directed at her and she still felt the sharp edges of it! But Naruto didn’t give ground, and it was Shikamaru who gave in first. “Tch, I can never get time to myself anymore,” he muttered, but he dragged his feet after Naruto back to where Ino presumed the shinobi stayed.

Ino kept a closer eye on Shikamaru after that, but that night was the only sign that something was bothering him. And even that could have been her imagination; she had explained his appearance to herself already as a side effect of being in the cold wind. However, Naruto staying glued to his side clued her in that something wasn’t right. It piqued her curiosity, but since she was trying to avoid drawing attention to herself, she couldn’t be near them as much as she wanted, and before she could figure out what was going on, Sano gave the order to pack up and move out. With the shinobi here and the injured recovered enough to be on the move, they had no more reason to stay.

Ino turned her back on the skeleton of the town with both regret and relief. Her feet tried to balk at the edge of the town, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d forgotten to do something. Lucky for her, it only took a few minutes to figure out the problem. It didn’t feel right to leave without saying anything to Naruto or Shikamaru. Maybe Naruto wouldn’t make her feel like this since they weren’t close, but it definitely felt wrong to be leaving without at least one word to her Genin teammate. _You’re being silly,_ she told her body, but it still took more effort than it should have to get her feet moving again.

Her journey out the gates was made harder by the sight of his back near her destination as he talked to one of the foreign shinobi. Again her steps slowed as her feet took her closer and closer to him. She would have to pass right by him to get out the gate. As his back drew near, her gaze blocked out everything else. She knew this was a bad idea, she knew that, but it felt like someone else was controlling her body. A couple more steps, and he would be within her arm’s reach. Her hand was already coming up despite Ino’s mind screaming at her body to stop this instant!

Before she could extend her arm, a hand clapped onto her shoulder, and her arm dropped back to her side. Glancing behind her, Ino saw Misao’s stern eyes. The older kunoichi gave a small shake of her head and didn’t release Ino until they were outside the gate. The former blonde cornered that unnecessary desire that made her act like a green Genin straight from the Academy, balled it up, and gave it as hard a kick as she could. She was ashamed of herself for losing control like that. _Remember why you’re here._ With her eyes looking straight ahead, she marched along with the rest of the troupe and didn’t look back.

~*~

Since they needed time before they could perform again, the troupe set up camp in between towns and started working on new choreography. Misao informed Ino that since she was now able to keep her balance on the ice, she would be incorporated into one of the performances as part of a group. That meant in addition to her regular shinobi training she now had to practice skating in a group and keeping in time with everyone else. The part she was given was minor, but it still called for skills that she wasn’t ready for, so Misao continued to give her extra instructions and push her to her limits.

She and Misao also had a new roommate. Mika’s tent was relegated to a family whose tent had been one of the destroyed ones, and she and Sayo moved in with the two kunoichi. At first, Ino worried that they wouldn’t be able to keep up the charade, but Mika was preoccupied with Sayo most of the time, and as long as Ino got up before the other woman to put in her contacts and occasionally dye her hair, Mika would remain clueless as to Ino’s true identity. Since there was no hiding the fumes from the hair dye, Ino had to go outside and find a secluded spot for it, and she hated every minute of it. The tent didn’t stink of dye anymore, but freezing her butt off for it wasn’t an equal trade in her opinion. If Mika wasn’t such a nice person, Ino would have resented her for making her go to such unnecessary lengths to keep up her charade.

“Keep your arms closer to your body!”

Ino obeyed the command and twirled faster. The cold air rushed past her face and stung her eyes, but she focused on landing the spin before she fell flat on her face again. Being able to jump into a spin was a requirement for the piece she was performing, and Misao worked her mercilessly until she was able to complete the turn.

When she landed in an arabesque, she heard clapping from the bank. Mika and Sayo sat on a tree stump, watching her. Sayo looked like a shapeless mass of fur, she was bundled up so much, but her dark eyes followed Ino as she made her way around the pond. It unnerved her that the baby would watch her every time she caught sight of Ino. Mika laughed and said that she was just paranoid, but Ino wasn’t too sure about that.

“Okay, now do it again,” Misao commanded from her position a few yards away from the mother and child. Her heavy coat made her resemble the bear she sounded like, and her piercing eyes focused on Ino.

Internally Ino sighed as she performed the sequence yet again. To think that a few months ago, she couldn’t even step foot on the ice without falling over. It seemed more like a lifetime ago, in a different place with different people. Ino pushed the thought away; she couldn’t afford to be homesick. This was her chance to become a Jounin, and she wouldn’t mess it up. Her desire to succeed hadn’t diminished.

Landing the turn in another arabesque, she looked at Misao and saw her nodding in approval. “Good job,” she said. “You’ve earned a break.”

Ino glided over to the bank and saw that she had earned another audience member. Shin stood beside Mika and beamed at her. “You’re improving,” he called. “Keep up the good work. Pretty soon you’ll be our star performer.”

Ino flashed him a smile and bent down to untie her laces. Despite everything that happened, he hadn’t given up his pursuit of her, and while Misao hadn’t said anything more on the matter, almost everyone else in the troupe had picked up on it, and they would drop subtle hints that she should take up with him. It wasn’t like she was the only topic of discussion; several newcomers from the last town had either become interested in someone else in the troupe or became the object of interest, and they had hints and more than hints dropped on them,  just as she did. However, she still resisted his advances and wished he would move on to someone else. In fact, she had noticed that one of the newcomers, a redhead, seemed very interested in him. She hid it well, but she always found a reason to be nearby when he was doing something.

They walked to one of the larger ponds where the stars of the troupe practiced. Ino’s eyes shone as she saw their graceful forms flowing through the steps that she struggled to do. “Pretty soon you’ll be able to do that,” said Mika, looking from Ino to the skaters.

“I wish,” Ino responded. _That would be a dream come true._ “They must have been doing this since they were born.”

“Those of us born into the troupe have,” Shin joined in. Ino glanced over at him, and sure enough, there was the redhead next to him, watching the skaters also but keeping her attention on Shin and the three women he was with. “It’s hard work,” Shin continued, “but I couldn’t imagine a better life than being a performer.” He didn’t act embarrassed at all that his career centered on ice skating. Not that it was a job to be embarrassed about, but Ino could think of quite a few men who wouldn’t think the same way that she did.

They watched the skaters for a few minutes, then Misao tapped Ino’s shoulder and nodded toward the trees. Indicating she understood Ino turned back to the others while Misao wandered away. “Hey, I’m going to keep working. I’ll see you guys later,” Ino said after a minute passed.

“But you just finished!” Shin said. “You need to take a longer break, or you could hurt yourself.” He didn’t notice the redhead’s assessing look at Ino.

“He’s right,” Mika chimed in, readjusting Sayo. The baby’s eyes still watched Ino as she shifted from one foot to the other to keep herself warm. Her eyes must have come from the father; they looked nothing like Mika’s eyes.

“No, I need to practice more. I’ll catch up with everyone later, I promise. Bye!” She waved over her shoulder as she walked back in the direction of the pond. When they were out of sight, she switched directions and headed into the trees where Misao waited. As she got close to where the older shinobi stood, she noticed multiple targets all over the area facing different directions. By the time she reached Misao, she didn’t know what to think of her new training obstacle course. “Why are there so many targets?” she asked.

Misao smiled and held out a belt of kunai to her. “You’re going to hit them,” she replied. “It is something that those in ANBU are trained to do, and you will need to be able to surpass their skills before we go back to Konoha in case the bug is among their ranks.”

Just like most of Misao’s training sessions, it was not a good start. Ino had the theory down, but the application of that theory escaped her. Only two of her kunai even landed on the targets, and none made it to the center. At the end of the session, Misao shook her head and started walking back to the tents, motioning for Ino to follow. “It’s something to work on,” she said. Ino felt the kunai of disappointment sink into her back. She was supposed to be getting better to protect Konoha and become a Jounin, but she still couldn’t adapt to new exercises fast enough.

Before they made it inside, Misao stopped and turned to Ino. “I have something I want to discuss with Sano. Go warm yourself up and get something to eat. You can’t keep up this kind of activity without replenishing your body with energy.” She clapped the younger kunoichi on the shoulder. “Don’t look so down. We’ll get you to where you need to be.” They both knew what she was referring to. Squeezing her shoulder, the older woman pulled her coat closer around her and strode towards the main tent, and Ino continued to their original destination.

Inside their tent, Mika was feeding Sayo and talking to Shin and another performer that Ino recognized but didn’t know personally. The girl’s golden skin would have fit better in a beach crowd than a troupe of ice-skating performers, and she appeared even darker when compared to the rest of the fair-skinned people in the tent. They looked up when Ino entered. “Hikari, what have you been doing?” asked Shin. He must have noticed the sweat streaks on her face.

“I was practicing,” she answered, removing the outer layers of clothing and walking behind the curtain off to one side so she could change; the clothes she was wearing were going to need serious washing before she put them on again.

“How hard were you practicing?” asked a feminine voice she didn’t recognize. _It must belong to the other person,_ she thought. “It’s cold enough to freeze water in less than an hour.”

Mika’s laugh rang from the other side of the curtain. “Hikari is trying to improve her ice skating, Asahi,” she said. “She only started to learn when she joined us a few months ago, and Sano decided that we need her to be part of the new show.” Her voice grew more subdued. “Too many of us were hurt or killed at the last town.”

They remained silent, and Ino joined them next to the fire pit. As always, Sayo’s eyes fastened on her as soon as she left the curtain. Ino met her dark gaze, but looked away when Asahi stood up. The small performer only came up to Shin’s shoulder, but she carried herself with a confidence that made her seem ten feet tall. “Good luck,” she told Ino. “I do not know when our next performance will be, but if I do not speak with you before it, I hope it goes well for you.”

“Thank you,” Ino replied, bowing slightly as the woman exited the tent. When the tent flap closed, she turned back to Shin and Mika. “I’ve never spoken to her before,” she said, “and I don’t remember either of you talking to her, either. Was there something she wanted?”

Shin answered her. “Asahi’s partner had a minor fall during practice earlier, so she borrowed some bandages from Mika. She came back to return them, then we all started talking.”

Mika cut in. “Since some of our best performers are injured, Sano had to move her up, and she’s playing some major roles now, and she’s anxious about doing well. All she needed was someone to talk to, and it’s not like I have anything pressing to do at the moment except take care of Sayo.” She looked down and smiled at the baby, who looked up and cooed at her mother. Her arms were wrapped around the now-clean rabbit that Ino had taken with her as a memento of the lost, innocent lives back at the town. It was the only toy the child had; Mika couldn’t afford to buy any after what happened even if they passed any stores that sold toys appropriate for Sayo’s age.

“When are we going to perform again?” asked Ino. She was sure that someone had told her about it, but she couldn’t remember, and talking about performing made her stomach flip flop. It was a strange feeling for her. When she had graduated from the Academy and jumped from Genin to Chuunin, she knew that the judges and many other shinobi had been watching her and assessing her skills, and she hadn’t felt like this.

“Soon,” responded Misao as she entered the tent. The snow on her coat fell onto the floor as she removed her overcoat. “I just met with Moira and Sano, and they told us that we were going to move on soon. When we get to the next town, Hikari, you’d better have those skills down that we’ve been practicing.” She looked at Shin. “That goes for you, too, Shin. Asahi’s partner won’t be able to practice for a while, and I know he won’t recover in time to perform. Since you’re his understudy, Sano told me that you need to take his place.”

“I thought it was just a minor fall,” he said. From his stunned face, Ino could tell that the possibility of him performing a lead role never crossed his mind. “Asahi said he’d be all right.”

Misao looked disgusted. “He didn’t want to rest. He thought he’d be fine with just sitting down a few minutes and tried to continue too fast. His ankle couldn’t take the weight, and he shattered it. It’ll be months before he’s able to perform again. Poor Asahi looks like she’s about to collapse from stress since she’ll need to get used to performing with a new partner. Try to put her at ease if you can.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He stood up. “Will I start tomorrow?”

The older woman nodded. “Your workload just got heavier, but you should be able to handle it. Go get some sleep, it’s late.”

He bade them good night, and the three women sat around the fire. “Did Sano say how long we have?” asked Mika, rocking her baby in her arms. For some reason, the green blanket wrapped around Mika’s legs reminded her of the blanket on Shikamaru’s bed. She stomped on that thought before it could go any further. He needed to get out of her head!

Misao nodded. “We have three weeks. That means you,” she looked at Ino, “need to nail that routine down until you can do it in your sleep. We’ll need to work on harder things, too, since you’re more experienced than some of the newer people now.”

“I understand,” replied Ino. “I will do my best.” _But what will that mean for my other training?_

Mika sighed. “I wish I could help,” she murmured. “I know how to perform.”

“But then who would look after Sayo?” Misao reminded her. “She needs you. It’s late, and training starts early tomorrow. I will see the two of you in the morning.” She walked over to the sleeping area, leaving the two younger women by the fire.

Before Ino could join her mentor, Mika spoke. It was by chance that Ino heard her at all. “Why did this have to happen? Why, Toya?”

“Who’s Toya?” Ino asked. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place where she had heard it before.

 “He was my husband,” replied Mika. “Or rather, to be more accurate, he is my husband.”

“Where is he?” Ino had been about to stand, but now she sat back down.

“It’s a long story.”

“We have time.” Ino paused. “Or is this something I’m not supposed to know about?”

The blond woman hesitated. “It’s something we’ve been trying to hide, but you are like family now, so I think I can trust you.” She looked into the fire. “I met Toya when he joined our troupe. He was hopelessly inept and had to be shown even the most basic things. Since he was alone, Shin and I befriended him, and as we got to know each other, we fell in love. We waited a while, then got married.”

She fell silent, looking into the fire and reliving the memories she spoke of. “And then?” Ino prompted.

Giving herself a small shake, Mika continued. “It wasn’t long after we were married that he told me about his heritage. His father was the king of a nation far to the east, but there was a revolution, and his father sent him and his sister away. He learned that the revolutionaries overthrew his father and executed him, so it wasn’t safe for him to return. Instead one of his retainers, Yukito, contacted us, and Toya took him in. It surprised me, but he said that was all in the past, and this was his new life. We were happy, and we had a good life together until Yukito tracked him down again. He told him that the kingdom was in chaos, and the revolutionaries were destroying everything his father had built up. He said that those loyal to his father wanted him to lead the army they had gathered and restore peace to his kingdom, but he declined, saying this was his life now, and that had nothing to do with him.” She closed her eyes.

“So he turned his back on his people?” asked Ino. She kept her voice free of judgment. It wasn’t her place to judge him. Maybe she did a little, but Mika wouldn’t finish her story if Ino made her feelings known.

She shook her head. “I could see him struggling with his conscience for days. Yukito would keep returning, trying to talk him into going with them, and each time was harder for him to say no.” She shifted Sayo to her shoulder. “In the end, he gave in. His sense of duty won, and he agreed to restore the kingdom. However, the loyalists weren’t pleased that he had married me, a member of a traveling performance troupe. I could see it on Yukito’s face when Toya introduced me as his wife. After he left, he wrote me letters, telling me how things were going. It didn’t take long for him to drive out the revolutionaries and take back his kingdom. Things were so bad the populace welcomed him with open arms and assisted him in every way possible, he said.”

She stood and placed Sayo in her crib, then walked back to Ino. Her knees were drawn into her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs. “After some semblance of peace returned, Yukito came here and asked me to dissolve my marriage to Toya so he could marry someone of proper rank and help the country. Of course, by then I knew that I was carrying Sayo, so I couldn’t dissolve my marriage even if I wanted to.” The firelight danced in her eyes, and Ino thought she could detect the beginnings of tears in her friend’s eyes. “I loved him so much, and I know he felt the same way. He couldn’t have known about that. His letters came less frequently because he was so busy, and eventually they stopped altogether. He never knew about Sayo, but I don’t dare to say anything because I know someone sees his letters before they reach him. If one of his enemies found out about her, she would be in danger.”

Things were beginning to line up now. The silence about Mika’s baby, the looks exchanged, it all made sense to Ino. And so did the attack on the last town. “But someone found out and now they’re trying to kill your baby,” said Ino. “The bandits from the last town weren’t bandits.”

Mika shook her head. “My husband has enemies in other countries, and they are the ones who are trying to kill us. I don’t know how they found out, but I have to be careful about who is around me. I am no longer allowed to perform, only sell souvenirs and food, in order to limit the number of people who see me.”

Ino’s thoughts jumped to the people who had joined the troupe after the last attack. “What about the people who join the troupe? How do you know they aren’t after you and the baby?”

Mika shrugged. “We watch them, but there’s only so much we can do. We are all family here, and if I’m not safe among family, then there’s no place that’s safe.” Her head started to nod, signaling that she was falling asleep as she talked.

Standing, Ino helped Mika to her feet and walked with her over to the sleeping area. “Thank you for telling me,” she said. “It means a lot to me, knowing how much you trust me.”

Even in the dark she could see Mika’s smile. “It’s impossible to not trust you,” she said. “And you’re family now. Who can you trust if not family?”

Ino chose to not answer that.

~*~

Another performance was ready to go, so they packed up and prepared to go to the next town. They had to be careful about how far south they traveled since it was approaching summer, according to Moira’s calendar. Since their show was based on ice skating, they couldn’t go to places where the weather was too warm for ice to form or formed ice that was too thin to hold their weight. Ino suspected that they could just ask for a Hidden Mist ninja to accompany them to warmer places, but the price would probably be higher than the troupe could afford. She was glad that they didn’t, whatever the reason; she didn’t know if she could keep herself hidden from another trained shinobi for that long.

Sano and Moira were hopeful that they would make enough money at their next stop that they could start buying more tents so people didn’t have to live in such close proximity to each other. They hadn’t been able to buy more since the attack on the town where Sayo was born, and some of the neighbors were starting to have less than neighborly feelings toward one another. Misao and Ino both had lost sleep due to Sayo waking up in the middle of the night wailing for food, but neither of them complained in front of Mika. They knew the woman didn’t have enough money to buy her own tent, so she would continue to share with them.

Being on the move all day was hard on people, but Ino was just thankful that she didn’t have to pull Mika’s cart again. Despite having given birth not too long ago, the woman was able to keep up with everyone, and her only concern was keeping Sayo warm and feeding her when she got hungry. Ino was more than happy to carry the extra baby necessities since it meant that she couldn’t be used to pull another cart. A diaper bag was definitely preferable to a wooden cart loaded with odds and ends and who knew what else.

When Mika’s arms got tired, Ino switched burdens with her, and that’s when she found love. Sure, she’d handled babies before on D-rank missions, and she’d done the dirty work. Shikamaru and Chouji both flat-out refused to touch any babies assigned to them without severe nagging done by the kunoichi on the team, and Ino couldn’t threaten them enough to get them to change a diaper. But they only had the babies for a few hours, then gave them back to their parents. Sayo wasn’t going anywhere. She was utterly dependent on Ino to take care of her and keep her warm and safe. That was a lot of responsibility. She almost handed her off to Shin, who was within a few feet of her, but Sayo opened her eyes and looked right into Ino’s. Too young to smile on command yet, the baby regarded Ino with serious expression and smacked her tiny hands against Ino’s chest. Lifting her left hand, she put her index finger under Sayo’s fat chin and tickled her. Her young charge flailed around some more until she ran into Ino’s finger. Her fingers closed around Ino’s in a tight grip, and she attempted to bring it to her mouth. The rush of maternal instincts the baby’s actions brought on shocked Ino. After dealing with the babies on those D-rank missions, she had felt sure motherhood was not for her. She hadn’t thought the screaming infants and toddlers were cute, and she was glad to see the backs of them once the missions were done. This feeling Sayo brought on made her smile. _Maybe someday I will give that whole mother thing a go._

She was still contemplating her new feeling when the troupe settled down for the night. As she waited for the food to finish and the cooks to call them all to eat, Misao walked up to her. From the faint puffing of the woman’s breath, she’d been running around beforehand.  “There you are,” the older woman said. “You are a hard person to find if you don’t want to be found.”

“I didn’t know anyone was looking for me,” answered Ino, rising. “I wasn’t hiding anywhere.”

“I have something for you. Come with me.”

Curious about Misao’s brisk speech, she followed her “aunt” back to their tent. It was empty, so Mika must be outside somewhere, probably with Shin. Reaching inside one of her bags, Misao withdrew a scroll and handed it to Ino. “It’s for you,” she said.

Carefully unrolling it, Ino saw lots of ink etched onto the paper. She recognized a few of the words, but it didn’t look like a new jutsu. The words were for ordinary household items, like “chair” and “bed” and “couch”. “What is it?” she asked. Turning it upside down didn’t make it any easier to decipher.

“It’s a gift from me to you. Do you remember what we do to my tent instead of packing it in a cart and towing it around?” Ino nodded; she had mastered the jutsu over a long period of time, and she was now responsible for the packing, which freed Misao to help other people. “This is the same thing,” continued Misao, sitting down on the bed. “It’s a tent that is already furnished. I know it’s not something we shinobi are supposed to do, but I thought that since you’re my student, I should reward you for your hard work. Tents are expensive, and the price will go up since so many people will be buying them soon. Besides, you are almost twenty years old; you should have a place to call your own.”

Ino couldn’t believe what Misao had done. Misao was pretending that she had created everything in the scroll with her jutsu, but Ino knew that was impossible to do; maintaining the objects created with the jutsu for an extended amount of time would have killed her. Her mentor had bought these at some point and then saved them in the scroll. From the length of the scroll and the amount written on it, a lot of money had gone into this. “Misao, I don’t know what to say,” she murmured. “This is quite a gift.”

The older woman waved a hand at her. “I did have an ulterior motive,” she admitted. “I’m getting older, and sleeping through the night is a great pleasure for me. However, with Sayo squalling at all hours, that hasn’t been possible for a while. I was hoping that you would take Mika and the baby with you when you went.”

“Of course. Thank you for this.” Dealing with an infant that kept odd hours was more than worth what Misao had given her. She didn’t think even her parents would have done this for her. It would be a while before she could use the gift, though. Some of the other members would look on her with less than friendly eyes if she suddenly acquired a new tent under mysterious circumstances. With so many forced to share room, Ino was positive that she would start a riot by bringing out the tent now, and she knew that Misao had thought of that and still planned on sharing until they reached the new town. She would tell Mika about it, but not tonight. The other woman was not familiar with ninjutsu and probably wouldn’t understand even if Ino tried to explain it to her. _I’ll tell her when we get to the next town,_ she told herself.

It turned out she didn’t have that long to wait since the next town arrived the very next afternoon. Just as Misao predicted, the rush for new tents drove the price up to astronomical heights, making Ino even more grateful that Misao bestowed such a gift upon her. Because she was one of the ones who didn’t rush off to get a tent, she was once again conscripted to the set-up crew and spent the rest of her day erecting stalls and pulling canvas over the tops. Even as she grumbled in her head where no one would overhear her, she noted that the physical labor required to set up the site was not as taxing as it was the first time she had to do it. _I’m getting stronger,_ she thought, grinning as she secured the canvas to the stake. _I’m making progress._

~*~

The performance the next day was Ino’s first. It wasn’t a big part, but she would be performing whenever there was a large crowd scene, and she still felt nervous skating around so many other people. If she fell, a lot of other people would go down with her. Her heart was beating as fast as if she was running from an enemy who was hot on her heels. She did her best to stay calm to keep her make-up from running, but she could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead and the back of her neck.

To her right, she saw Shin look over at her. “Relax, Hikari,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her an encouraging smile. “You’ll be fine.”

“What if I fall?” she muttered. “What if I ruin the show?”

He laughed. “Everyone falls at some point,” he reassured her. “I slipped and slid across the ice on my face during my fifth performance. I remember Sano knocking down a whole row of performers when he still performed. If it happens, then it won’t be the end of the world.”

One of the techs stuck her head out of the curtain. “Shin, get ready to go on,” she said, then pulled her head back up.

He took a deep breath and shook out his arms and legs. “I’ll see you out there soon,” he said, then glided out onto the main ice stage.

She could hear his strong tenor blending in with Asahi’s clear soprano, and her breath quickened again. _Our cue’s coming up,_ she thought. Ahead she could see the rest of the “crowd” getting ready to enter. _Here goes._ She found her spot and skated out to perform her very first show in front of a crowd. The house lights were off, and the stage lights were focused all on the performers, preventing Ino from seeing the audience. Even though she knew they were there, being unable to see them made her feel better. _Okay, follow the person in front. Now, spin! Okay, I landed fine, now arabesque and circle around Shin and Asahi._

At first, all she could think of was what the next move was, but her body knew what to do, and by the end she started to enjoy the intricate dance they did. She did have a few close calls when her ankle wobbled when she landed a jump, but to her relief she didn’t fall, and she didn’t run into another performer. The applause at the end filled her with a rush, and she grinned from ear to ear when they took their bows. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shin and Asahi take their bows, and the applause grew to a roar.

They performed three times that day, and Ino found that her legs trembled and could barely hold her weight when the curtain closed on their last performance. As she took off her skates, Shin walked over and sat down next to her. “So, what did you think of your first day?” he asked. His brown curls were a mess, and he had sweat streaks all over his face, but his eyes were bright with excitement.

“It was incredible,” she answered. She knew she probably looked just as bad as he did, but at the moment, she didn’t care. “I didn’t fall! I can’t believe it. What about you? How was your first leading role?”

He blew out his breath. “It was the best feeling ever,” he said. “I was nervous at first, but then I got into the role, and it was amazing. I am so thankful that I got this chance because as soon as Asahi’s partner gets better, he’ll be taking over again.”

They continued talking until they found Mika and the redhead, then they proceeded to talk over each other about their experience. They kept up the constant chatter through dinner, and Mika laughed at how excited they both were. “I wish I could still perform,” she sighed wistfully. “But then I wouldn’t be able to watch. You two were wonderful.”

To Ino’s surprise, she did well the rest of the time they remained in the city. She did have a few accidents, but those were off-stage, and no one was hurt except for a minor bruise here and there on Ino’s part. Whenever she saw Sano and Moira, they were practically glowing with happiness because of how well the troupe was doing. Apparently not many traveling shows came here, so the populace came out en masse and kept the tickets sold out. When she was passing by Asahi and Shin, she overheard the small woman say that her husband was beyond pleased, and they would have more than enough money to buy food to restock and more materials for souvenirs.

Once the head honchos of the troupe had decided they had gotten all they could out of this town, they sent the word to pack up and move out. This leave-taking was a much brighter affair than the last one. People walked out the gate with smiles on their faces, and not a single death occurred this time. Ino gave the town one last, fond look before leaving herself. It was a nice, quiet town, and she had her first successful performance in it. The warm glow stayed with her for quite a few miles afterward.

The attack came a few days later. Ino had been on edge all morning, but she couldn’t pinpoint why, then the snow around them erupted and bandits burst out of the ground. The startled horses squealed and reared, upsetting not a few carts, and the guards traveling with the troupe surrounded the performers while they struggled to calm themselves and the horses. Ducking around a few carts, Ino drew her kunai and scanned the thoughts of the bandits nearest her. It wasn’t the same group that attacked them where Sayo was born, but they followed the same leader, which meant these men weren’t actual bandits, and their main targets were Mika and Sayo.

One of the bandits charged her, and she slashed his chest with her kunai. He fell back, his blood staining the snow red. Another of his companions noticed and tried to skewer her with his sword. She side-stepped his thrust and pierced his left lung. Leaving them, she looked around, trying to find Mika, but all she saw was a sea of bandits. _There’s too many,_ she thought, the previous warm feelings rapidly being displaced by despair. _We can’t fight this many._

“Hama Ryu-o-Jin!”

Ino jumped when a blast of blue energy shot past her and incinerated a group of bandits. Behind her, she saw a buff man with a glowing, blue sword. His red eyes had the look of a veteran warrior, and his stern demeanor showed he was displeased. “Weak!” he roared, swinging his sword and killing several more bandits. “These people aren’t even worth killing!”

“Now, now, Kuro-rin,” a thin, blond man standing next to the swordsman tried to placate him. “You know most people aren’t able to entertain you.”

“This is a waste of time,” the man muttered. His red eyes looked right past Ino. “Let’s go find the other two. They can’t be too far.” He stalked off, the blond man following him.

Ino stared after them. “What was that?” she asked aloud. _They couldn’t have been with the bandits, but I didn’t even know they were there until that man in black used some sort of jutsu to blast those men away._ The few men the man had left standing had run away, so she followed the two men, keeping her eyes open for any sign of Mika. The two weren’t hard to follow; she could clearly hear the man in black’s unhappiness about how weak the bandits were. But he wasn’t the only one fighting. The thin man had a rapier, and he wielded it with the ease of one who had much practice at it. Between the two, they cut a swath through the bandit ranks.

At one point, the blond man stopped and looked around. “I think they’re over there,” he said, pointing to the right. “I think I can hear Syaoran.”

A blast of flame came from that direction, and the man in black grunted. “Yeah, that’s the kid,” he said, decapitating another bandit with his long sword. “Let’s go.”

They headed off in that direction, and Ino followed. They ran into a few bandits, but the troupe guards took care of them while the other two passed by. Ino wasn’t sure why they didn’t attack the blond man and his friend; maybe they had seem them fighting with the other bandits. The scuffed snow was stained red and brown, the mud underneath and the blood of injured people mixing together in the frozen water. The bright sun illuminated all the gory details, leaving nothing to the imagination. Cries of injured people, performer, guard, and bandit alike, rose together in a cacophony of pain.

Ahead she saw the two men stop. Looking between them she saw a young boy, no more than seventeen, with a sword dancing with flames in a guard stance, but she didn’t pay much attention to him. Behind the boy sat a girl Ino didn’t recognize and Mika, holding Sayo. Both Mika and the girl wore terrified expressions. The two females had their backs against an overturned cart, and they sat huddled close together, Mika shielding her baby. Three bandits rushed towards them, but the boy slashed at one and knocked another to the ground with a high kick to the head. Shin, previously hidden from view, knocked the remaining bandit’s sword aside and slammed his fist into the side of the man’s head. The bandit went down like a stone.

The man in black stepped forward, his sword out in front of him. “I would consider your next move well,” he said.

The bandits, the boy, and Shin all looked over at his words. “Kurogane-san!” the boy exclaimed. “Fye-san! You made it.”

“Did you think we would get lost?” the blond man, Fye, asked.

The bandits looked from the boy to the man in black to the troupe guards that were coming up behind the boy. “Retreat!” he shouted, kicking up snow in his hurry to escape.

The man in black sighed. “So much for a good fight,” he said, putting his sword in its scabbard.

“You scared them away, Kuro-tan,” Fye said.

“Will you stop with those weird nicknames?” the man snapped, but it didn’t sound as fierce as his earlier complaining about weak bandits.

The men walked over to the boy. “Is everyone all right?” asked Fye, bending down to look at the girl.

“I’m fine,” the girl said, standing. Her legs wobbled, and she started to fall.

“Hime!” the boy exclaimed, catching her. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine,” she reiterated for him. Looking down at Mika, she extended her hand. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Mika took her extended hand and stood up. “We are fine also,” she said as Shin moved to stand next to her. “I take it you are not with the bandits?”

Syaoran answered her. “No, we just got here and saw you were under attack. We thought you could use the help.”

Shin watched them all with wary eyes. Ino knew what was going through his mind, and she agreed. Their convenient timing may be a trap by the bandits, helping them to gain their trust, then turning around and killing Mika and Sayo when no one suspected them. She tried probing their minds, but she encountered a complex defense in place, and she sensed five minds, not just the four in front of her. Even with her light touch for a brief instant, she could tell they sensed her. They all stiffened and looked in her direction. There were other people around her, so they wouldn’t know exactly who tried to pry into their minds, but the two men, the man in black and Fye, looked right at her. _I don’t know how, but they know it was me._ She didn’t let her expression change.

Sano came running up with some other guards. “Who are you?” he demanded when he saw the new faces.

To Ino’s surprise, Mika spoke up. “They saved me and Sayo,” she stated. “The bandits were about to take us, and this boy saved us. Then the bandits ran away when those two joined us.” She pointed to Fye and the red-eyed man. “These aren’t bad people.”

Sano sheathed his sword. “You have my thanks, friends,” he said, bowing slightly. “If there’s some way I can repay the favor, please let me know.”

The four looked at each other. “Well, we don’t have a place to stay,” started Fye.

“We would offer you our hospitality, but we are a traveling performance troupe, and we do not stay in one place very long. If you wish to travel with us, then we would welcome your strength.”

The tall blonde smiled. “I think we will take you up on your offer,” he said. Behind him the two younger people nodded. The man in black didn’t give his opinion.

And so the troupe added four extra members to their team. At first, many members of the troupe viewed them with suspicion, but after interacting with Fye, Syaoran, and the girl, Sakura, their mistrust abated. Few people spoke to the red-eyed man, Kurogane, unless Fye accompanied him, and he didn’t speak much to other members. The aura he gave off was an uninviting one, and the younger children ran away in terror when he so much as looked in their direction. His dark clothes were made for fighting, and he looked every inch a fighter, one that no one in their right mind would challenge.

The others were much easier to get along with. Fye was always smiling and laughing, and he helped tend to the injured without a complaint. However, Ino would sometimes see his blue eyes grow shadowed, and he would lose his smile, but whenever someone approached him, the smile returned before the person could see the other face. His actions, coupled with his mind defense, told Ino this was a man with something to hide.

Syaoran was an earnest, hard-working boy. He was polite to anyone he spoke to, and he was never far from Sakura’s side for an extended period of time. He reminded Ino a lot of Shin; they even somewhat looked alike, having the same eye and hair color and body build. Whenever someone asked for his help, he never denied them. But he seemed overly-protective of Sakura. They all were, but he was the most obvious about it. He almost had a fit when he saw Sakura attempting to do a tight-rope walk three feet off the ground, and he didn’t relax until she was safely down. It was clear as day that he loved her, but his protectiveness and the protectiveness of the others gave away signs that Sakura was an important person, possibly related to one of the ruling families in some country.

Ino didn’t know what to make of Sakura, the only female in the group. She was young, the same age as Syaoran, but she didn’t seem to have that worldly wariness about her that the others did. She seemed innocent, almost naïve. She was sweet, and she absorbed new ideas more easily than most people. However, she was not robust, and she slept a lot the first few days they were with the troupe. A few times Ino even saw her stop talking mid-sentence and fall over, fast asleep. The others shrugged it off as normal, but Ino wasn’t sure. The medical training she had was not enough to cover all sorts of diseases, but she remembered listening to some of Haruno Sakura’s training, and this Sakura’s symptoms smacked of narcolepsy, but she couldn’t demand to see her because “Hikari” did not have a medical background.

The troupe grew used to the new people, but Ino kept her doubts; normal people didn’t have as complex mind defenses as these people did, which meant that there was a reason they had those defenses. However, Misao allowed all four of them to share her tent with her, which was not what Ino expected. After all, they were supposed to be avoiding strange people, and this group definitely qualified as strange just by virtue of them all traveling together when it was clear they were all very different. When Ino asked Misao about it, the older woman shook her head and chuckled. “They aren’t people we have to worry about,” she told Ino.

It bothered her, but she couldn’t spend all her time worrying about them. She still had training to do. They camped out near woods so there was plenty of firewood available, and Ino was able to hide in those woods to practice her techniques. Closing her eyes, she even out her breathing, letting her ears fill with the sounds of the nightlife. She knelt, letting the feel of the cold snow against the palms of her hands keep her alert. Springing up, she spun around and let loose a string of kunai. The object of this practice was for them all to hit the same point of a target Misao had placed on a tree some distance away. She heard the clanging of metal on metal, but it was too soon for them to be hitting each other. Opening her eyes she landed in a crouch and saw Kurogane, his sword out in front of him. Her kunai were scattered around the area he stood. A few had pierced the trees nearby. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. Her right hand closed around the hilt of another kunai.

He glared at her. “I should ask you the same thing,” he said. “I came here to get firewood, and instead I find myself about to be impaled on a series of kunai.”

Ino’s blood ran cold. Most people called kunai “knives” because they didn’t know what they were. If he knew, then either he was a shinobi or had dealt with them before. “I was practicing,” she said, trying to decide if she was going to need to fight for her life. “You are standing in front of my target.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Kurogane spotted the human-shaped target. Muttering to himself, he moved to the side. “They wouldn’t have hit,” he told her in his gruff voice. “You aimed too far to the left.”

That settled it, he was a ninja. “Thank you,” she said. “I won’t try again until you are out of range.”

To her surprise and chagrin, he walked a few steps away, then leaned against the tree. “Since I’ve already told you what’s wrong, I want to make sure you do it right this time.” There was no threat in his aura, only expectation of being obeyed.

She had no choice. Retrieving her kunai, she tried again, this time aiming more to the right. “No, that’s not right,” stated Kurogane even before they all hit the target. “Your wrist needs to have more snap or else they will fly everywhere. Like this.” Drawing out his own kunai, he repeated her actions, but every one of his kunai stuck to the target where the vulnerable spots would be. “Do you understand?”

Nodding, Ino waited for Kurogane to take his kunai out of the target before trying. Half of her kunai made it; the other half buried themselves in various parts of the target. “It’s a start,” rumbled the spiky-haired shinobi. “Try again.”

“Why are you helping me?” asked Ino as she went to get her kunai.

“You were doing it wrong. If you want to learn it right, you have to practice it the right way.”

Misao found the two of them still working on it. The old kunoichi and the young shinobi looked at each other and seemed to come to an understanding. “Hikari, this is what you will do after you master that,” instructed Misao.

The whole time Ino worked with Misao, Kurogane sat against the tree, watching them. It made Ino nervous, not only because she had been avoiding shinobi ever since she left Konoha, but because it felt like she was being assessed for Jounin status again. The man’s eyes took in every successful hit, every faulty start. Even though the exercise that night wasn’t strenuous compared to some others, her clothes were drenched in sweat, and there was no way she could get by without a full showering tonight.

After Ino felt like her legs wouldn’t hold her up any longer, Misao called a halt. “You’re learning faster,” she told her pupil, “but you still have a long way to go. I can only teach you so much, so I’m sure Kurogane will be willing to help us.”

Ino glanced over her shoulder to where the black-haired shinobi sat, but he was gone. Startled but determined not to show it, she faced Misao again. _I didn’t even sense him coming or going,_ she thought. Aloud she asked, “How do you know he will help? And how do we know he isn’t an enemy?”

The older kunoichi smiled, her eyes mysterious. “Trust me, we can trust all of them.”

~*~

By one of the campfires, Kurogane sat on a log, sharpening his sword. During the fight when they first met the traveling troupe, it had gotten scratched. Now he sat cross-legged, patiently rubbing out the scratches and keeping the blade keen. The mirror-like surface reflected his stern visage back at him, along with the person walking up behind him. “May I sit here?” asked Misao, settling herself down on the log next to him without waiting for a response.

“Time wasn’t kind to you,” he said, continuing his ministrations to his sword.

“And you all look the same as ever,” she responded. Her old hands clasped together, and she watched him at his work. “Have you found what you were looking for?”

“Not yet,” he replied. “But we’re getting there. Did you ever marry that man?”

Misao sighed. “That was so long ago, but yes. We were happy together for a few years, but then he was killed in a mission. I stayed on as long as I could, but the Hokage allowed me to retire some years ago, and I’ve been traveling with these people ever since.”

“Retired, huh? Last time we were here, you were trying to earn Jounin status.”

“Ah yes, I remember that. It’s been so long. I’m amazed that you made it back here.”

“So are we.” He held up his sword and examined it in the firelight. Spotless. “I thought we got the only one last time.”

Smiling, Misao looked at same sword she first beheld over forty years ago. “You helped me back then, so now it’s my turn. I will help you in whatever way I can.”

He grunted. “If you’re retired, why is that girl with you?”

“She is in the same boat as I was back then, trying to become a Jounin. Unfortunately, her job is much more dangerous than mine was, and I’m trying to help her survive the best I can. But I can only do so much…do you think Fye would be willing to assist us?”

“The wizard doesn’t do things the same way we do. He’d be no help.” Kurogane knew where this was headed. He grimaced. “Her aim needs more work. Have a few blindfolds ready tomorrow night.”

The kunoichi smiled as the shinobi by her side made plans for improving their pupil’s skills.

~*~


	5. Chapter 5

After that night, Ino found that she had two teachers. Misao and Kurogane traded off teaching her various tricks of the trade, and at times Syaoran joined them. The first time startled Ino since she expected Kurogane’s instruction to be a one-time freebie, but neither man commented about her ability, and she felt no hostility from them, so she accepted their presence and proceeded to learn what she could. Syaoran was not a shinobi by any means, but he was a good partner for practicing taijutsu. Kurogane made him always practice with a sword except when he wanted Ino to practice without weapons, whereas Ino had to be adept at several types of fighting, which tipped her off that Syaoran was not a shinobi-in-training.

Her extra time spent in the company of the strangers did not go unnoticed by everyone even though she only practiced with them at night. Whenever she returned from her session with Kurogane, she noticed Shin watching the two of them interact more closely than usual, and she started detecting faint tinges of hostility toward the dark-haired shinobi. Not enough to put Kurogane on guard, but it was enough of a deviation from his normal behavior that Ino picked up on it. Mika happened to catch one of his glances once Ino returned and brought it to her attention once they were back inside their own tent. “I think he feels threatened,” she murmured to Ino as she got ready for bed and Ino gathered soap and clothes for a shower. “That man isn’t unattractive, and you’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”

Ino groaned. _Not this again._ “I don’t need a man in my life right now,” she said, grabbing the towel she’d used the past few nights. “I wish Shin would move on already. That redhead’s been mooning after him ever since she joined the troupe.”

“Kagura? Yes, I’ve noticed that, but I don’t think Shin has.” She adjusted the blanket covering her sleeping daughter. The child was an active sleeper and liked to kick her blankets all over the place as she dreamed. “He’s only had eyes for you ever since you joined us.”

“But why? I’m not beautiful like you are, I’m not a great skater, I have almost nothing I can contribute to the troupe that someone else can’t do better. Why doesn’t he move on?” It hurt her pride to say some of those things, but it was true. She may be considered pretty with her new look, but she didn’t approach beautiful. And for all the hard work she put into learning to ice skate, some of the newer people breezed right by her and could already perform skills that left her slack-jawed.

The blonde next to her frowned as she settled her blankets around herself. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “He’s never been like this about anyone before. Maybe something about you just clicked for him.”

That was not what Ino wanted to hear, but the woman wasn’t there to lie to her just so she would feel better. Smiling at Mika and Sayo, she said, “I’m going to go rinse off all this sweat. Misao and Kurogane have been working Syaoran and me very hard, and I doubt anyone wants to stand too near me.” They needed a reason for Ino to be in their company so much, so the story they put out was that Kurogane was giving Ino self-defense lessons as a favor to Misao for letting his group stay in her tent. Syaoran was in training to be a guard as well, which explained his additional presence. For all any of them knew, that part was true. Because it was just a favor to Misao, it exempted him from having any other members approaching him for self-defense lessons. Few would have approached him anyway. The man did not give off an inviting aura.

“That is a true statement,” agreed Mika, wrinkling her nose, though her eyes twinkled with laughter. “Enjoy getting clean.”

Once Ino exited the tent and slogged through the snow in the direction of the shower tent, she made it halfway to the tent and changed directions to head back to where she was training earlier. Ino hated taijutsu, absolutely hated it. However, she knew herself well enough to know that she hated it because she wasn’t good at it. She was not one of those people who could love doing something that she wasn’t good at. The only reason she didn’t give up the ice skating was because it was her disguise and Misao would slap her around the whole area before telling her that she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Her taijutsu skills were better than her ice skating skills, but they were still abysmal compared to her genjutsu and ninjutsu, and just like the ice skating, she didn’t have any choice but to continue working on it and improving. _I’ll just do a little,_ she promised her aching body. _So bear with me for a little longer._ Her body’s response was another twinge through her left leg, making her stumble. The feeling in her bones told her that tonight would not end well if she tried to push herself too much. Kurogane and Syaoran had already done a number on her a few hours earlier.

“Hikari, wait!”

She turned, hiding the bucket containing her shower supplies behind back, around and saw Shin behind her. To some, the hiding of the supplies would be unnecessary, not even worth doing. However, she was not headed in the direction of the showers, and she clearly did not just come from the showers, so why would she have them and not be going to the shower tent? Little details like that separated the new shinobi from experienced ones. But enough about the shower supplies. The approaching man required more attention. He jogged up to her and slowed to a halt. She noted that his face was flustered, and his breathing was irregular even though he hadn’t been moving very fast. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach, and she had a bad feeling that she knew what was going to happen.

Taking a deep breath, Shin spoke. “Hikari, this has been on my mind for a while, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Or you. No, please hear me out,” he said when Ino opened her mouth to respond. “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you when I bumped into you that first month you were with us.”

There was enough light reflecting on his face that Ino could see he was serious. From the set in his jaw, she saw how tense this conversation was making him. However, his eyes showed no uncertainty. _He honestly believes he loves me,_ thought Ino. She had known, but since the redhead had joined the troupe, she had hoped he would hesitate to confess to her when she never showed an interest in him beyond that of friendship while Kagura was all but throwing herself at him.

Shin continued his confession. “I was going to tell you earlier, but Sayo was born, and Mika needed both of us. Also, you had just lost everyone in your village, so I wanted to give you time to mourn. I’ve watched you for a long time, and I can’t keep my feelings to myself anymore. Hikari, could you find it in your heart to ever love me?”

Ino paused, thinking how to handle this. Here was an earnest, hard-working young man who had always treated her kindly and was a good friend to “Hikari”, but could she love him? As Hikari, she could. _And why not?_ she thought. _It’s been over a year since Hokage-sama sent me here, and she hasn’t gotten any word to me in that time. Misao even said that I might be married and have children by the time Tsunade-sama sends me anything._ However, when she searched her feelings, she found fondness for the man standing in front of her, but not something she could confuse with love. Maybe if she became more Hikari than Ino, she could learn to love him, but only if Tsunade-sama didn’t tell her to return soon. However, that wouldn’t be fair to him.

She knew that her realization was reflected in her eyes, and she knew when he saw it. The light went from his eyes, and he seemed to slump, even though he still stood upright. “Shin, I-” she started, but he stopped her. “No, Hikari, you shouldn’t apologize,” he said. “And even though you don’t love me, I will still try to earn your love.” He flashed her a smile. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. Be prepared!” He waved and ran off, leaving Ino to stare after him.

Even as he moved away, she could feel the hurt his mind projected. There was nothing else she could do at the moment, though, so she continued on into the woods. Draining away her excess emotions, she readied her kunai. By the time she reached her destination, her outer appearance seemed calm. Unfortunately, her emotions refused to calm down, and the whole time she spent practicing, she also imagined piercing her feelings with each kunai she let fly.

~*~

When the world around you is a constant state of white, keeping track of passing time is quite the difficult task, maybe even impossible if you do not have a calendar to keep track of the days. Misao made sure to push her in everything, from skating to practicing taijutsu, and she continued to improve. Kurogane taught her things that she never imagined existed, and she had a slight suspicion that many of the techniques he taught were forbidden, but when she questioned Misao about it, the woman smiled and said “not to worry about it”. There were several times when someone almost caught Ino in the middle of practicing the shinobi arts, but her quick reflexes with genjutsu clouded their minds so they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Sano and Moira kept Ino integrated into the performances, and she even graduated to some of the more minor roles, though she never got a solo. Some newer members than her passed her by in the performance ranking, which made her seethe and try harder, but despite the amount of practice time she put in, she still couldn’t do the techniques as cleanly or as reliable as they could. The butterflies never went away before a performance, but they did fade enough that she didn’t feel like throwing up each time.

After Asahi’s partner recovered, Shin went back to working with Mika, who needed more help now that Sayo had learned to crawl. The baby seemed to take much pleasure in crawling away from them as fast as she could to make them chase her. However, after a few months, Sano reassigned him to being a performer; not enough new people could perform up to his ability, but they could sell food and souvenirs. Mika’s new partner, the redheaded Kagura, became quite adept at handling customers while juggling Sayo around with her feet so she didn’t get into the merchandise. For a woman who couldn’t get the object of her desire to acknowledge her in the way she wanted, the redhead got along well with Shin’s female friends. She was even nice to Ino when Shin wasn’t around, which raised Ino’s respect for her. But that was only when Shin wasn’t around.

Even though he helped Mika with Sayo outside of performing and practice hours, Shin still kept most of his attention on Ino. Whenever she passed by, he would find some excuse to go talk to her. If she was carrying something, he would try to carry it for her. He was constantly over in the tent she shared with Mika. He said that he was there to help keep an eye on the baby, but everyone knew that he wanted to spend that time close to Ino. The kunoichi could see the open jealousy whenever the redhead saw them together, but there was nothing either of them could do about it. Even after Ino rejected him, the man tried harder than ever to win her affection, and Ino sometimes found herself thinking of him in ways that wouldn’t quite qualify as platonic love.

Now that Ino was aware of Mika’s situation, any and all strangers were regarded with veiled suspicion. She liked Mika before they became roommates, but living with her and Sayo earned them a special place in her heart. What she felt for those two was on par with how she felt about Sakura back in Konoha. Because of their close status to one of the royal families, Ino lived in constant worry that someone would come after them again. Those bandit attacks solidified her feelings, so she made it her duty to skim through the outer thoughts of any newcomers to the troupe. Ino wasn’t the target, so the chances of the enemy sending someone who would know to block their thoughts were slim to none.

To a normal person, Ino’s casual riffling through other people’s thoughts and memories would be a gross breach in etiquette, but in Ino’s profession, it was important to keep in practice, particularly since she would need to do this to trained shinobi when she returned to Konoha, and those shinobi would have training in how to break her hold over their minds. In addition to this reason, Ino wanted to be sure that Mika and Sayo stayed safe. She had a strong hunch that Mika was related to her family somehow, and she had been brought up to protect family members, whether they were civilian or shinobi. If she sensed that someone was going to hurt either Mika or her baby, they would have to get through Ino first.

Before she knew it, Sayo was old enough to walk and to start baby-talking. It seemed like she was just born yesterday, and the next time she turned around, Sayo was running around with her mother and Shin close behind. Her blond locks blew around in the cool breeze, the snowflakes decorating her hair and small, purple mittens. Her pale skin was flushed from the cold and the exertion of running around, and her innocent smile made Ino’s day brighter.

If not for the baby, Ino wouldn’t have noticed time passing. She knew that her skating improved to the point where she could learn a new sequence within a few days, and Misao was now hard-pressed to come up with a pattern that Ino didn’t master the next day. Her life now had a routine that hardly varied, and she didn’t even notice the passing of the seasons because it was always cold and white where the troupe performed. As it was, she didn’t know how much time had passed since she left Konoha until she and Misao were sitting down with the troupe for dinner. The older kunoichi passed her a plate of steaming vegetables and said, “You know, you’ve been with us for about three and a half years now, Hikari. What do you think of your new life with us?”

Ino’s hand froze in the middle of adding a forkful of carrots to her plate. _It’s already been that long?_ she thought, forcing her hand to continue on its path and handing the plate to the person on her right. “It’s hard to believe,” she answered, brushing a strand of her brown hair over her shoulder. “It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I just came here and met everyone.”

Misao smiled, and they both looked across the unsteady table where Mika sat with Sayo in her lap, feeding her toddler peas. The baby was making faces, but Mika continued to give them to her, and Sayo’s unhappy expression turned sour every time she opened her mouth and tasted the green vegetables. To Mika’s right, Fye entertained Sayo to keep the baby’s attention away from what was on the spoon so that she automatically opened her mouth when she felt the spoon there. “She’s gotten so big,” remarked Misao. “Do you remember her being born?”

Oh yes, Ino did remember. “And I met Mika a few months before that. I have been here a long time.” _And still no word from Hokage-sama. The list must be longer than I thought. I hope everyone is doing well._ Little of her past resentment toward her friends remained, and she avoided the rest of it by not thinking specifically of anyone in general.

When Ino finished eating, she stood and muttered to Misao as she passed by, “I’ll be practicing in the usual spot.” The older woman nodded; they had been training in this one place for a while, so she knew what Ino meant.

Ino cleaned her dishes in a soapy bucket and thought about what she would do while she waited for Misao. The older woman liked to socialize after dinner with some others around a fire since she felt the cold more easily than the younger generations. Standing, Ino’s feet wandered toward the woods near the encampment. Her taijutsu had come a long way from what it was back in Konoha, but she could only practice that with Misao, Kurogane, and Syaoran. The older kunoichi used to beat Ino without breaking a sweat, but now their roles were reversed, and Ino almost found it easy to avoid Misao’s traps and surprises and have Misao at her mercy. Even Kurogane had difficulty beating her, and Syaoran had a fifty-fifty shot of landing a hit on her when they practiced without weapons. The same problem of needing another person existed in performing her particular genjutsu, but ninjutsu she could do. She’d created new techniques during her sojourn with the performing troupe, but there was no such thing as too many techniques.

As she walked, she passed Shin coming back from some errand. She nodded a greeting at him, but hurried on before any words could be spoken. Things weren’t as awkward between them as when Ino first rejected him, but she had started getting warm whenever he was nearby. He always was there for her when she needed someone to lean on, and his interest hadn’t diminished; he still showed no interest in other women, whether they were on the road or in a town. With that kind of attention, Ino was hard-pressed to keep her feelings platonic. In more recent times, she had been unsuccessful, and with the realization that she had been traveling with the troupe for more than a year since he confessed to her, she reassessed her inability to form temporary or semi-permanent attachments to Shin.

_He is more attentive than anyone I’ve known,_ she thought as she wound her way through the trees and low bushes. Thanks to Kurogane’s blindfold training, she didn’t need a flashlight to see where she was going; the crescent moon filtering through the canopy shed enough light for her to avoid the small twigs littering the ground. _He’s good with children, and he helps Mika with Sayo when she needs a break or when Sayo needs chasing._

Closing her eyes, she took a quiet breath and launched herself in the air. Flipping upside down, she hurled the first kunai at a target nestled in the trees somewhere behind her. _Maybe I should give him a chance,_ a stray thought crossed her mind. She brushed it away and let loose another three kunai. _It wouldn’t have to be for long if things didn’t work out, and I’m sure things could end when I return to Konoha._ Another set of kunai flew toward their targets. _I know he’s never wanted to leave the troupe, so my life could go back to being what it was after I leave them._

She released the rest of the kunai, landing in a crouch, arms extended. _It would be a good cover for when I go back to Konoha, give me more credibility about belonging with the troupe. I could say that we need to hire some shinobi to help with the bandit problem. But if I become that involved with him, would I want to stop when the time came?_ Rising slowly, she raised her head and exhaled. Her breath came out as steam in the chill air. _Why am I even contemplating this?_ she wondered as she went to retrieve her kunai. _I’ve already rejected him. I should stay strong in my resolve…_

She took her last kunai out of the target; she’d hit the bull’s eye on every one of them. Turning around to return to her previous spot to repeat the exercise, she stopped when she saw Misao watching her from the edge of their designated area. The woman’s face was grave, and in her hand she held a vanilla envelope. “What is it?” asked Ino, trotting over.

“It’s from Tsunade,” the kunoichi replied, holding out the envelope for her to take.

All thoughts of Shin vanished. “What does it say?” she asked, taking the envelope and holding it to her chest. _This is what I’ve been waiting for. Please let this be it._

“It’s for you, so I didn’t look at it, but I have a feeling that it is the summons to return to Konoha. When you read it, come to me in my tent, and I will make arrangements with Sano and Moira to head that way.” She started to leave, then turned to look back at Ino over her shoulder. “By the time we get there, snow will cover the ground,” she remarked, then continued on her way, leaving Ino with the envelope.

The most Ino could do for two minutes was clutch the envelope to her chest. She didn’t dare open it. For more than three years she had waited for this, and now that it was here, she couldn’t break the suspense. Her heart raced, and sweat formed on her brow. She didn’t even twitch a muscle until the cold seeped into her skin and caused her body to shiver. With a careful, gloved hand, she broke the seal and withdrew the paper. It had only one word other than the seal of the Hokage. It read “Return.” Nothing more, nothing less, and it left no doubt as to what was expected to happen. A smile spread across Ino’s face. She wouldn’t think about what was going to happen once she got to Konoha; for now, she was going home!

After the initial feelings of elation subsided, she slogged through the snow to Misao’s tent. Inside she found Syaoran, Sakura, and a white, round thing with floppy ears sat on one side of the fire, and Misao and Fye sat on the other side. Kurogane was over in the sleeping area, and from the quiet, even breathing coming from that direction, he was doing what it was named for. Misao met her eyes when Ino entered, and Ino gave a small nod and said something mundane; she didn’t even know what she said, she was so distracted. The older kunoichi indicated she understood, and Ino prepared to leave, but Fye called to her. “Why don’t you stay and chat?” he invited, patting the ground next to him.

She couldn’t think of a reason not to, so she entered the tent, noting the two sake bottles in front of him and a third in his right hand. He seemed even cheerier than usual, and the slight swaying of his torso indicated that he was not sober. As she sat, he asked, “Why the long face? You should relax. Here, have some.” From behind him, he took out another sake bottle and smacked it down in front of her. “Drink up! You’ll feel much better,” he assured her.

Ino smiled a small smile and poured some of the sake in a cup. Because of their specific place in their profession, she and her father could not drink alcohol during missions because the smallest amount could cloud the mind, and if their minds couldn’t focus, they couldn’t use their jutsu. However, this was too good an opportunity for Ino to pass up. Despite the amount of time these travelers had joined the troupe, Ino had never been able to find a good time to probe any of their thoughts, and when people get drunk, their defenses go down, especially their mind defenses. Bringing the cup to her lips, Ino pretended to take a sip and watched the blond man as he turned to Sakura and Syaoran. As she brought the cup back to her lap, she sent out a probing thought towards Fye. Even though he was drunk, she remembered his mind defenses from before, and she didn’t want to run into them headfirst.

As soon as her mind contacted his, she knew that he wasn’t as drunk as he was pretending to be. In fact, he was very close to being sober, and his mind defenses were all still in place. Before he had a chance to throw her out, she withdrew, but she gleaned two things from the brief contact: he was a magician, a powerful one, and he and the rest of the travelers were not from this world. She had caught a fleeting glimpse of the Dimension Witch before his defenses kicked in, so he and the others must have visited her, possibly for reasons similar to Ino’s own.

Fye was looking at her. She tensed, ready to run or attack, but instead of attacking her, he threw an arm around her, gave her a goofy grin, and said, “That wasn’t very nice.” The others laughed, thinking that he was lost in a drunken delusion, and while they laughed, his voice dropped low so only Ino could hear. “My mind isn’t a place for anyone to be wandering around in.” He patted her shoulder and sat up.

Misao stood. “I need to pay a visit to Sano and Moira,” she said, starting to bundle up against the outside cold. “I won’t be gone long.”

“Don’t leave us too long or we’ll miss you,” Fye sang out. He narrowly missed sloshing his sake all over Ino as he waved his arms around.

“We will have to send out a search party in case you had gone missing,” the white thing next to Sakura and Syaoran joined in. The first time it spoke, it surprised Ino since she had never seen anything like it before. She hadn’t known what to make of it, but since Misao didn’t bat an eye, Ino forced herself to accept it as well. Even after spending a few years with the thing, she still didn’t know what to think about it, aside from it being a good distraction for Sayo when she and Mika visited Misao’s tent with her.

“I will return as soon as I can,” promised Misao, then she walked out into the snowy night.

“I miss her already,” said the magician to the white thing.

“Mokona does too,” the white thing agreed. “Mokona will sing about how much Mokona misses her until she comes back.”

“Oi, white manju, you and the wizard need to pipe down,” growled Kurogane from the sleeping area. The noise must have woken him up.

“I am not a white manju,” the white thing whined. “Mokona is Mokona!”

“Keh!” grunted Kurogane as he rolled over. “Just be quiet.”

~*~

Whatever Misao had told Moira and Sano got the troupe to pick up and start moving toward Konoha. Ino didn’t know how she did it since, according to the various people she overheard, they had never been to Konoha before, the reason being that there was no guarantee that the ice would stay strong enough to perform on while they were there. However, there was an underlying sense of excitement from everyone; they had never gone to Fire Country before, and the performers were eager to explore a new country. Kagura told them about the little she had heard when she still lived in her town, and Ino didn’t bother telling her that no, the Hokage did not keep order with fire-breathing dragons, and the hidden village did not sacrifice livestock under the light of the full moon to ensure a good mission. The performers did have a little contact with some of the hidden villages, but only just enough for wild stories and rumors to start. Some of the stories she heard were not things that anyone but renegade shinobi would consider doing, but others, like the former Jounin test for the Hidden Mist village, were disturbing but true, at least at one time.

On their way to Konoha, they still made a few stops at other towns and villages. If Ino thought about it, then they didn’t have a choice. Konoha would be just starting autumn weather if they plowed through Fire Country without stopping until reaching Konohagakure. Therefore, the troupe had to kill a few months before arriving at their ultimate destination. The kunai of disappointment once again found Ino’s back, but she understood the reason for it. The troupe did have to make money, after all. But her sense of disappointment didn’t last long. They had made it inside Fire country for the first time, and Ino felt her own excitement build, but also her anxiety. _I have to start my mission soon,_ she thought as she waited for her cue to skate out onto the ice. _No one will know it’s me. This disguise won’t dissipate within a jutsu, so my identity is safe in that respect. But how will I find out who the informant is? I don’t even have a clue about where to start checking people._

After her performance, she walked around with Shin, Sakura, Fye, and the white thing that called itself Mokona. Kurogane was performing his job as a guard, and Syaoran entertained the audience with tricks he had picked up in his travels. “You look so graceful,” Sakura was saying to Ino. “I wish I could move the way you do.” The girl’s emerald eyes shone with admiration.

Ino smiled, remembering how she had been when she first started skating. “It took a lot of practice, and I’m still nowhere near Asahi’s level, or even Shin’s.”

“Hey, that sounded almost like an insult,” protested Shin. “I’m pretty good.”

“So why do you work in the souvenir stands with Mika and Kagura part of the time?” Ino shot back playfully. Ever since her summons came she tried to force herself to look at Shin only as a friend; she couldn’t afford any liabilities in Konoha if she were found out. That didn’t stop the warm feelings from rising whenever he came over to her. If she had to be honest with herself, fighting her feelings when it came to romance was never one of her strong points, and while her other skills improved, this particular one did not.

“I performed today, didn’t I? And didn’t I do it well?” He struck a ridiculous pose, causing them all to laugh.

“You were wonderful too,” Sakura assured him. “I was impressed.” The Mokona in her arms nodded in agreement, the red jewel adorning its forehead and the lone earring hanging from its long ear glistening as the light reflected off their smooth edges. Ino wondered how it did that; it wasn’t like the round animal had a neck separating its head from the rest of its body.

They continued on towards Mika and Kagura’s stall, and Ino looked into a window as they passed. It reflected a happy group of people, and she saw her own face as happy as the rest. And it was her face; she could hardly remember being without brown hair or eyes, and the contacts didn’t faze her at all anymore. The end was coming where she wouldn’t look like this anymore, and she had mixed feelings about that.

Up ahead, she saw the stall had a few people around it. Mika was talking to two people, answering questions and showing items to them. When she caught sight of them, Mika waved, then continued talking with her customers. Something about the back of the female customer nagged at Ino. _She looks familiar,_ she thought. _That long, indigo hair reminds me of someone. Who is it, though?_ As she sorted through her memories of who the person could be, the woman turned around, and it hit Ino like a blow to the head. _Hinata?!_

The shy woman smiled at them and said, “I saw the performance. I think that you are talented performers.” Her folded hands didn’t display the nervous habit that Ino remembered her having.

“Thank you,” answered Shin, bowing to her. “We love getting feedback from the audience.”

“Where are you headed next?” she asked. Her pale, lavender eyes looked at Shin, but Ino could tell that she was keeping her senses alert for danger. Her heartbeat picked up its pace, and Ino worried that everyone around her could hear it. Her fears were well-founded if Hinata didn’t come alone.

“Oi, Shino, Hinata, you almost done?”

Yes, she was right to worry. Inuzuka Kiba, followed by Akamaru, sauntered over to his teammates. Shino turned from Mika to Kiba, his glasses reflecting Akamaru’s white fur. “Where are your Genin?” his asked in his soft voice.

Kiba stuck his hands behind his head. “I sent them to wait for us by the entrance. We found the cat, so we can head back.”

Smiling again, Hinata nodded and looked back at Shin. “Where are you headed next?” she asked.

“Well, our main destination is Konoha, but we’ve got a few stops in between,” he answered.

Kiba blinked. “I didn’t know Hokage-sama allowed shows like this in Konoha,” he commented. “We’re shinobi from Konoha, and no one’s mentioned anything coming.”

“I’m sure they cleared it with Hokage-sama,” said Hinata. “I hope to see you all perform there.”

The three of them walked away, not once looking at Ino with any recognition. The brief spurts of thought contact she had with them revealed that they didn’t suspect any of them being anything other than troupe performers. She let out an inward sigh of relief. _The disguise works!_ It surprised her that Akamaru didn’t notice either; the giant dog’s keen sense of smell made him a huge asset to Kiba’s team, but he didn’t even bat an eye at Ino. _I guess with all the other smells around and the dye I use for my hair, he couldn’t pick up my scent._ Even so, her heartbeat didn’t go back down for a while afterward.

~*~

Darkness surrounded Ino. Her ankles were tied together, and her arms were likewise bound behind her. A hard chair pressed against her back, and the rope used to tie her wrists was twined around the back support. The hot, dank air was almost thick enough to suffocate her, and the smell of rotting wood did not help. The cuts and bruises on her body burned, and she knew that some of them were infected. Twisting her arms proved to be an exercise in futility; the rope was too tight for her to move more than a quarter of a centimeter. She almost cried out at the pain running through her limbs, but her throat was too swollen to let any sound out.

She knew this was a dream. Her mind knew that she really wasn’t in this chair, in that dark room where she was sweating heavily from heat and fear. However, her consciousness was trapped within the dream; she couldn’t wake up. Despite being adept at slipping in and out of other people’s minds, she was a slave to her own and couldn’t escape.

To the right, she heard, rather than saw, a door open, and two pairs of feet stomped down the stairs. The wooden planks groaned under the weight of the men; the gait and heaviness of the footsteps weren’t right for either of them to be women. Letting her head fall to the side, she feigned unconsciousness, though there was no way those two would be able to see her. Not that they needed to see her; as long as they could hear her breathing, they wouldn’t bother her. They stopped in a corner of the room where Ino knew a small table stood, and the two sat down around it. One of them lit a small match, and Ino had to close her eyes against the first light she had seen since a few days ago. Once the sunspots faded, she opened her eyes to slits and watched the silhouettes as they hunched over something on the table. “Do you think they’ll agree?” whispered one.

“How can they refuse?” answered his partner. “We have the heiress of the Yamanaka clan. If nothing else, her family will beg the Hokage to agree to the terms. They’re powerful enough that the Hokage can’t just ignore them outright.”

“But to exchange her for him?” The first speaker sounded doubtful. “I don’t think even the Yamanaka heiress is worth that in their eyes.”

The second one sighed. “This is the best chance we have. If it doesn’t work…”

Faint shouting reached Ino’s ears from outside the door. One of the men turned toward the door, but the other man ignored the distraction. “If we can get that Nara tactician out of the way, then Konoha won’t be able to stand against us,” he stated, pointing to various spots on the table in front of them; Ino assumed they must be looking at a map of some kind. “Several other countries have a put a bounty on his head, so we can kill two birds with one stone.” He looked up, frowning. “What are they doing out there?” he muttered. He and his companion both glanced at the door. The noise had gotten louder, but then it died out.

The quiet man stood. “I’m going to go check what happened,” he rumbled, pushing his chair into the table.

The other man snorted. “They were probably just messing around,” he said as he turned back to the map. “We have to figure out what to do once Konoha delivers the tactician.”

Ino’s insides clenched. _They want to trade Shikamaru for me,_ she realized. It was hopeless, she knew. She was just one of Konoha’s soldiers, and Shikamaru was one of the village’s top-ranking shinobi. Their status differences were so great that it was laughable. So what if she was the Yamanaka heiress? Her parents were young, they could have another child. Besides, Shikamaru was also destined to be the head of the Nara family. Couple that with his worth as Hokage-sama’s tactician and you got someone who was in a completely different class than her. She grappled with her despair as it threatened to overwhelm her. No help would be coming, and once they realized that, she would lose any safety she had as a hostage, and they would kill her.

As she fought with her feelings, the other man strode toward the door and stuck his head outside. “What is going on?” he asked. A stifled curse followed the question, and he shut the door and looked back at the man at the table. “They’re gone,” he whispered.

The sitting man bolted to his feet and joined his compatriot at the door. “Something went wrong,” he muttered. Even though he spoke quietly, his voice reached Ino’s ears. “We have to move her. It might be Konoha shinobi.”

The other man nodded and bounded over to Ino. Not even bothering to untie her from the chair, he picked up the whole chair and looked at the man still by the door. The unburdened man nodded and took one step towards them when the door burst open, and Ino found herself flying through the air and hit the wall with enough force to knock the air out of her body. When the stars stopped dancing in front of her eyes, she struggled to turn her head to see what had just happened, and her eyes widened in shock. The man by the door was pinned underneath Akamaru’s huge bulk, his white face inches away from the dog’s white fangs. Out of her range of sight, she could hear the clang of metal against metal and curses. Someone was fighting, but she couldn’t tell if who it was. A deflected kunai buried itself point-first into the ground right in front of her face. _This is a dangerous place to be,_ she thought to herself, though there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She had no strength, and her bonds to the chair kept her immobile.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she felt herself being lifted up, and as her rescuer/captor carried her out the door, she saw Kiba and Sai circling the second man. He saw Ino being taken away, and he moved to stop them, but Sai cut him off, and then Ino and her carrier were out the door and into the chill night air. “Don’t you worry, Ino,” her carrier assured her, “we’ll get you to Sakura, and you’ll be as good as new.” _Naruto is here too?_ she thought. So much had happened in the last few minutes that she was having a hard time absorbing it.

The Kyuubi bounded on top of the warehouses and set her down to cut the ropes. As he worked, Sakura materialized out of nowhere and knelt by the other kunoichi. She looked like she wanted to tackle Ino, but she restrained herself and only put a green-glowing hand on her friend’s leg. “You’ll be fine,” Sakura assured her. “None of these will leave a mark.”

As she worked, Sai joined them. He now sported a gash in his left arm, but he otherwise looked unharmed. “The men are secured,” Sakura reported at his questioning glance. “Shikamaru has them bound, and Kiba and Akamaru are with him. We’re ready to move out once you are.”

The pink-haired kunoichi stood and offered a hand to Ino to help her up. The blonde balanced for a second, then toppled into the other girl, both of them squeaking in surprise. “Sorry,” Ino mumbled. She barely recognized her own voice; it had been a while since she had spoken.

“She can’t keep up in this state,” stated Sakura. “Naruto, you’ll have to carry her back.”

“No, I’ll do it,” said another voice as Naruto stepped forward to take Ino. Looking over, Ino saw Shikamaru appear from the shadows, a deep scowl on his face. “She’s my teammate.” A flood of relief washed over her. With her teammate present, everything would be all right. Shikamaru would make sure they all got back to Konoha safely.

“What are we going to do about the kidnappers?” Sakura asked. “You need to keep them bound.”

The shadow shinobi nodded at Sai. “His paintings can keep them immobile and transport them to Konoha so Hokage-sama and the interrogators can question them.” Walking forward, he took Ino from Sakura and cradled her against his chest, just like when he protected her body when she used the Shintenshin no Jutsu. Beneath his vest, she could feel his heart beating in a fast and irregular tempo. _Those men must have given him a hard time,_ she thought to herself. It wasn’t always easy for him to subdue his quarries, and even though she didn’t know how many of them were part of this scheme, it looked like they put up a fight even after they were taken down. She wanted to ask what he was doing there; their main objective was him, and he had to have known that, so being part of the endeavor to rescue her put all of them at risk. However, she couldn’t work up the energy to move her mouth, so she rested her head against his chest and allowed herself to let her mind drift away. Nothing would happen to her while her teammate held her; he, Chouji, and she always looked out for one another.

When Ino opened her eyes, she was almost surprised to find herself in an inn and not surrounded by trees and her fellow shinobi. _Why did I remember that now?_ she wondered as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. That hadn’t been just a dream; it was a memory from a few years ago. When she was sixteen, she had been lured into a trap, which ended with her being captured. The men had sent a letter to the Hokage stating that they would be willing to trade her for Nara Shikamaru, the tactician of Konohagakure. Even back then he had proven his worth to the village, and others were trying to dispose of him. Ino’s only worth was her status as the sole heir to one of Konoha’s shinobi bloodline families. Not much had changed between then and now with her status, though everyone else’s worth rose significantly. It was a depressing thought.

Pushing aside her memories and thoughts, she dressed slipped outside. Arriving at the ice, she removed her boots and put on her skates. Going through the motions of what she would perform earlier helped remove some of the butterflies that invaded her stomach before each performance. As she practiced, she thought about her encounter with her fellow shinobi the previous day. _If Akamaru couldn’t tell it was me, then I doubt anyone will find out by smell._ A perfectly executed pirouette. _I’ll need to keep my hair dyed while we’re there. Probably every morning I’ll have to reapply it. Ugh, I hate the smell of fresh hair dye._ She held an arabesque, then glided forward into a figure eight. _When will I get the list from Hokage-sama? How will I know it’s from her?_

Lost in thought, she didn’t notice someone joining her on the ice. When she leaped into the air for another arabesque, strong hands caught her waist and held her aloft. Keeping still, she continued the new combination, turning so she was upside down and one leg rested on the other person’s shoulder, then let both legs fall into a split. The person carried her like she had no weight, keeping the balance right and not coming close to dropping Ino. Flipping her over, Ino’s feet connected to the solid ice, and she and Shin stopped in the end pose. “You should audition for a solo,” he told her. “You have the skills.”

Letting go of his hand, she looked down. “It was all you,” she answered, keeping her eyes on her skates. “I did well because you were my partner.”

“I could be your permanent partner.” He moved a step closer. “We wouldn’t be able to replace Asahi and Kamui, but we could have a little time in the spotlight. What do you think?”

Ino shook her head. “Not right now,” she murmured.

“At least think about it.”

Looking up, she saw Shin’s brown eyes looking into her own, and all his unrequited feeling shone through. Ino felt her resolve, already riddled with cracks, form another fissure. “I’ll think about it,” she said, then skated back to the bank and pulled off her shoes. She could still feel Shin’s gaze on her back as she walked back to her tent. _I can’t afford to fall for him,_ she told herself. _My mission comes before me. It would endanger the mission and him if we get involved. I can’t._

The performances that day were trials for Ino. Her thoughts returned to Shin every time she saw him, which was often since he waited off to the side with her while waiting for a cue, and they were on the ice at the same time. A part of her wanted to take him up on his offer, to love him the way he wanted her to, but the larger part still said no. Her mission had to come first. Once the mission was done, she would return to being a full-time kunoichi, and she would live in Konoha, and he wouldn’t leave the troupe. She knew he would be devastated if she made him choose between the troupe and staying with her, and he wouldn’t be truly happy no matter what he chose. No, for his sake, she couldn’t do it.

After all the performances were done, she went looking for Mika, but when she got to the stall her friend usually worked at, another member of the troupe was there. He didn’t know where Mika was, so Ino went searching elsewhere. For two hours she looked, but no one knew where her friend was. Ino didn’t think she would have left the performance area, so she stayed within the confines of the brightly-lit tents and skating ponds. Off to her right, she spied Shin. She almost passed him by to avoid talking to him, but something about his stance stopped her. His head was bent down, and she could see the tension in his arms. In the fist closest to her, she saw a crumpled newspaper, and it, along with his whole body, was shaking. Warily approaching, she whispered, “Shin?”

He didn’t look up. “Shin?” she tried again. “Shin, what’s wrong?”

Still without looking up, he shoved the newspaper at her. Smoothing out the wrinkles, she saw a picture of a dark-haired man standing with young, blond woman in a wedding dress. They were smiling and looking at each other with love. “What is this?” she asked. Neither one of them resembled Shin, so Ino doubted they were family members.

“Read it,” he snarled.

This took her aback. Shin never took that tone with anyone. Something must be very wrong with this couple. Glancing down at the heading, she read, “King of Water Country remarries to princess of Lightning Country.” The article itself said, “King Toya of Water Country recently put down a rebellion that threatened his life and took the life of his father. He is new to the throne, but he already shows much promise of being a good monarch…” Ino eyes skimmed over the next part describing the new ideas he had put into effect that were already showing good results and started paying attention to the section that described the picture on the cover of the newspaper. “Just over three years ago, he received tragic news that his wife, who he married while in exile, was killed in a bandit raid. He received this shocking news from his advisor Yukito, who had gone searching for his wife when the country became stable again. The king sank into despair for many months, but the Princess Lochia from Lightning Country was able to save him from himself. He and Princess Lochia were married yesterday, and it looks like their marital bliss will last for years to come.”

When Ino reached the end of the article, she flipped back to the cover and examined the king. There was no doubt in her mind; he had Sayo’s eyes and mouth. A feeling of dread washed over her. “You don’t think…?” she started.

Now Shin looked at her. His eyes held anger and worry. “I know she saw,” he responded. “We have to find her and make sure she’s okay.”

“I already looked everywhere, though! Where could she be?” She had seen how much Mika loved Toya; she didn’t know what she’d do if she saw this picture.

“Look again!” barked Shin. “She has to still be around here somewhere.”

They took off running in opposite directions. However, Ino had no better luck than the first time. No one had seen Mika aside from that morning. It was by chance that Ino ran past the inn they were staying at. From an open window, she heard a cry she recognized as Sayo’s. After awakening to that cry for a few years, she would know it anywhere. Bolting up the stairs, Ino fumbled for her keys and opened the door. In the middle of the floor sat Sayo, her red face the epitome of woe, wailing her head off. Running to the crying baby, Ino picked her up, and Sayo buried her face in her shoulder, still wailing away. “Sh, Sayo, ssh,” cooed Ino, rocking the sad baby in her arms. “Here, do you want a cookie?”

Walking over to her bag sitting on her bed, Ino brought out a small box of cookies. Taking out two cookies, she gave Sayo one for each hand, and the baby’s cries subsided. Now Ino looked at the other bed. Mika lay sprawled on top of the covers, her eyes glassy and staring at nothing. “Mika!” cried Ino, running over to her. Laying a hand on the other woman’s shoulder, she did a quick scan using her medical jutsu, but nothing appeared to be wrong with her body. Holding Sayo still with one arm, she placed her free hand on Mika’s temple and probed her mind. Inside was a whirl of chaos. Ino quickly released her grip on Mika’s mind before she could be sucked in. It wasn’t something she couldn’t heal, but she couldn’t do it now, holding Sayo.

As if Sayo knew she was thinking about her, she started crying again. “Waa! Waa!” she cried.

“Do you want milk?” asked Ino in a forced calm tone, getting one of Sayo’s cups out of Mika’s bags. She recognized Sayo’s baby-talk for being thirsty. When Ino saw how Sayo grabbed the cup from her and started downing the reconstituted milk, she realized that Sayo must not have had any form of sustenance since that morning, which was probably when Mika found out about Toya. “Oh, Sayo,” she murmured, cuddling the baby close to her. “You haven’t had anything all day, have you?”

Mika was in no condition to take care of her baby, and Ino wasn’t sure she could care for both of them on her own and finish her assigned duties at the same time. Sending out a thought in a narrow beam, Ino located Misao somewhere among the cloth stalls. “Misao, I need you in my room!” she called, then cut off the thought before she could pick up Misao’s reply. They were in shinobi territory, and they couldn’t afford to have them investigate the source of chakra output Ino used to contact Misao. While she waited for her mentor to arrive, she fed Sayo, changed her, and gave her the attention she didn’t have that day. To Ino’s relief, it didn’t appear that Sayo would be overly traumatized by the day of inattention.

By the time Misao arrived, Sayo had calmed down and was playing with her toy bunny under the kunoichi’s supervision. From the woman’s disheveled appearance, she came running in response to Ino’s summons. Her sharp breaths gave evidence to the distress Misao felt; she hadn’t been far enough away to warrant that shortness of breath just from running here. The old woman’s eyes went straight to the comatose Mika. Her eyes had closed when Ino called out to Misao. “What happened?” she demanded.

Ino explained about the newspaper. “Her mind shut down,” she finished. “I tried to see, but it’s all chaos in her head. She can’t look after Sayo like this.”

“No, she can’t,” muttered Misao as she moved to the bed. “This is not good,” she said, her face serious. “Mika can’t be left alone. I’ll stay with her. You take Sayo and stay in my room with Kurogane and his group. Tell them what happened if they ask, but otherwise say nothing. Will you be okay taking care of her?”

Ino didn’t question the order and nodded. “I’ll take her things and let Shin know we found Mika.”

It took a few trips, but in less than thirty minutes, Ino was out the door with Sayo wrapped in her parka and a warm blanket. “Shin,” she called, looking around. “Shin!”

Either he heard her calling or she got lucky, but whatever the reason, they ran into each other near Mika’s usual stall. “You found her?” he asked, panting. Judging from his red and sweat-streaked face, he had been running all over the place. _He really cares about her,_ she thought as she adjusted the squirming bundle in her arms.

“She was in our room,” she replied. “Misao’s going to stay with her, and I’m going to take care of Sayo until she gets better.” There was the unspoken ending of “if she gets better” that both of them understood. “You should go see her.”

Ino didn’t have to say it twice. The man gave one short nod and darted towards the inn, Ino following at a more sedate pace. Sayo just did not want to sit still! Twisting this way and that, the toddler attempted to impersonate an escape artist, but Ino’s grip was too much for her. Jutting out her lower lip, Sayo pouted at Ino and whined, but Ino just readjusted her grip once again, her gaze on the back of the receding image of Shin.

By the next morning, everyone knew what had happened. Shin and Kagura volunteered to help Ino with Sayo, for which Ino was thankful for; she didn’t know what she would have done if she had to take care of the baby all by herself and balance that with shinobi training. If she needed to practice skating, Shin took Sayo and kept her warm and happy while Ino worked. At times, he even strapped her to his back and joined Ino out on the ice. Ino worried when he did this, but Sayo giggled and clapped her hands in delight. While she and Shin performed with the rest of the group, Kagura watched over her and kept her entertained.

She also relied on Fye and Sakura to watch the baby some nights while she, Kurogane, and sometimes Syaoran practiced the shinobi arts. She couldn’t ask Shin since he would wonder what she did every night so late, and with Misao out of commission, it fell to Kurogane to keep up all her training. He grumbled, but he knew why Misao couldn’t teach, so he didn’t complain as much as Ino expected. He wasn’t one to do people favors, or so he claimed. Fye told her during one of his rants that in fact, the man did Fye and Syaoran several favors, but he liked to believe that he was too cold-hearted to do something like that.

Even after a week, Mika showed no signs of recovering. Misao reported that she had sunk into a coma-like state, and if Misao didn’t keep a tight grip on her mind through the use of extended medical jutsu, they would lose her. “The shock was too much for her,” she whispered to Ino when she came to visit after another practice session with Kurogane and Syaoran. The younger man had gotten a solid kick to her hip, and she could feel a bruise already forming. “She doesn’t want to wake up, and it’s difficult keeping her just as she is.”

That was not good news at all. It hurt to see Mika, strong Mika, lying lifeless on the bed. It demonstrated something her father had taught her when she was younger. _No matter how strong the body, a weak mind will render that strength useless._ This woman had walked for miles while pregnant and soon after giving birth without a complaint, but the news of Toya revealed how her strong body hid a fragile mental state. Well, the Yamanaka heiress wasn’t going to give her up without a fight. “I want to try something,” murmured Ino, sitting on the side of the bed.

“Don’t do anything you aren’t sure you can handle,” Misao cautioned her. “You’ve just used a large amount of energy in training, and I don’t want to have to pull you out of insanity too.”

“I’ll be careful,” replied Ino, already sending her thought down towards Mika. Her mind was no less chaotic than the last time. Flashes of angry red streaked around Ino amidst deep black. Splashes of color that looked like oil spills floated around in amorphous shapes. Willing herself to move, Ino passed by the chaos, looking for a certain something. The black chaos was everywhere, the oil spill colors combining and splitting off in separate directions. The constant movement obstructed her vision and made progress difficult since she didn’t know what would happen if she touched one of those oil spill splashes, but she didn’t want to find out.

She almost missed it. A floating oil spill wandered by, and she caught a brief glimpse of pure white. Moving around the oil spill splotch, she found what she was looking for: a large knot of twine. It was different for each person, but to Ino, it gave off the same aura in everyone’s mind. The knot represented the chaos reflected all around her, and if she could untie the knot, then they had a chance of clearing away the chaos. As long as the knot stayed intact, nothing they did would work. When she picked up the knot, she noted in passing that it was as large as a bowling ball, yet the twine that the knot consisted of was as fine as the hairs on her head. Splitting her consciousness, she sent out a thought to Misao, “Please join me. I have something to show you.”

A few moments later Misao’s presence was next to Ino. “Did you find something?” the woman asked. Her thought did not represent her physical body, just as Ino’s did not. Ino appeared to be her normal self, complete with blond hair, purple outfit, and fishnets. Misao’s hair was light pink, pulled back into a loose bun, and she wore the standard Jounin uniform of Konoha.

Ino showed Misao the ball. “We need to unravel this before she’ll wake up,” she said.

Misao looked dismayed. “It will take forever to undo this,” she sighed.

“Not necessarily,” argued Ino. Moving a few strings, she pulled out one end of the twine. “This is our starting point. I have to get back to Sayo, but if you could start, I can help later.”

The other kunoichi shook her head and took the ball from Ino. “No, I will do this,” she responded. “You have Sayo to look after and more training to do. Mika is my charge now.”

Ino left Misao coaxing the string out of the knot a little at a time. In the morning she would come back and bring Misao to herself, but at the moment she had a tired Sayo who needed her.

~*~


	6. Chapter 6

They were halfway through their stay at the next town before Mika opened her eyes again. She only remained conscious for a few seconds before sinking back into oblivion, but Misao told Ino that the knot had finally come undone and she would start to recover on her own. “Her thoughts revolve around Toya, though that’s no surprise,” the woman told Ino. “In her mind is that picture from the newspaper. She isn’t capable of thinking of anything else right now.”

The worry for Mika and her anxiety about the upcoming homecoming to Konoha had Ino’s emotions tied in knots at least as large as the one in Mika’s mind. _I wouldn’t be surprised if I have several ulcers by the time we reach Konoha,_ she thought at one point in between one town and the next. Her stomach hurt enough to have at least two, but an examination of herself showed that no ulcers existed yet. She had bruises galore, but no gastric or intestinal problems to that degree.

Shin and Kagura were constantly with Mika when they had time. She started staying awake for longer periods of time and was able to talk with them, but she was still fixated on the news about her husband taking another wife. “Maybe we should bring Sayo to see her,” Shin suggested after another visit. He appeared troubled by her lack of progress in getting better, though Ino was just happy that Mika was no longer comatose. “It might make her feel better.”

“Maybe,” said Ino, but she had her doubts. Even after she woke up, Mika didn’t ask about Sayo once. She didn’t think that was a good sign, but she wasn’t going to stop Shin from taking Sayo to her mother.

With Shin leading the way and Ino carrying the toddler, they walked to the room where Mika stayed with Misao. “Mika, are you awake?” asked Shin as he eased open the door and held it for Ino and Sayo.

“I am,” the blonde answered. Her voice, once so full of life and laughter, sounded dull to Ino’s ears. That voice could have belonged to a different person. Even her eyes had lost their shine and now gazed with little interest outside the window beside her. Ino didn’t see any sign of Misao.

“We brought someone to see you.” He moved aside, and Ino placed Sayo on the bed next to Mika, though she stayed close by the edge in case the baby fell.

At first, Mika didn’t move; she remained reclining on the pillows, looking out the window. Her blond locks lay strewn across the pillows without any rhyme or reason, but it didn’t look unwashed. Ino guessed the Misao took care of Mika’s appearance since the other woman clearly didn’t care. Sayo recognized her mother and, cooing, started crawling towards her. Feeling the bed shift, Mika rolled her head to see what was bothering her and saw her baby. Her expression remained the same. The toddler kept crawling and used her mother’s arm to pull herself up. She looked her mother in the face and giggled.

Something changed in Mika’s face. Her eyes focused on her daughter, and she leaned closer, her hand stroking the baby’s cheek. Ino also leaned forward, her hands at the ready; she didn’t know what Mika was about to do. “His eyes,” the woman murmured, her eyes locked on Sayo’s dark eyes. Mika’s green eyes grew wider. “You have his eyes.” Her voice rose to a shriek, and she threw herself back onto the pillows, sobbing.

The noise startled Sayo, and her cries joined her mother’s. When Mika started screaming, Ino pulled Sayo back into the safety of her lap, and she was glad she did; Mika’s twist at the end would have sent Sayo flying to the floor. Shin and Ino looked at each other. Neither one had been expecting that reaction. “I don’t think she’s ready to see Sayo yet,” murmured Ino, rising and cradling the distraught baby in her arms. Shin nodded his assent, his eyes wide and his face ashen.

After that, any mention of either Sayo or Toya would send Mika into hysterics. This concerned everyone, but after Mika’s outburst the first time she saw Sayo, Ino decided to keep the two separate, and no one argued with her. “Maybe later,” she told Shin while giving Sayo a bath. “She needs time.” But the continued estrangement from her mother worried Ino. This was the time when Sayo would start forming memories, and she wouldn’t know her own mother if they were kept separate for too long. She remembered Shizune lecturing on child development after babies were born, and the memory age was an important one.

Konoha drew ever closer, and Ino had no time to plan what course of action to follow to isolate the bug. All her time was spent caring for Sayo, practicing for the performances, practicing her ninja skills, and aiding Misao to keep Mika on the path to recovery. Balancing all those tasks was not easy, and many times she wanted to give up, but she had no time to wallow in self-pity. “The road to becoming a Jounin is not easy,” she told herself again and again. “If I can’t get through this, then I don’t deserve to be a Jounin.” Even after that, the despair sometimes persisted, but then Sayo would squeal or coo for attention, and Ino’s negative feelings would wash away as she watched the toddler attempt once again to do a forward roll or some other gymnastics on the floor of Ino’s room at an inn.

Ino took periodic looks into Mika’s mind, searching for a way to help her friend recover, but there was little she could do. Mika’s mind was close to normal again, but she had been changed; she wanted nothing to do with her child. Whenever someone started to bring up Sayo, her mind would start to resemble the chaos very quickly, and even after a few weeks it was the same intensity. Her behavior was also altered. Instead of being happy and light-hearted, Mika was more withdrawn. She was willing to help people, but her attitude was not the same as it had been before. “I don’t know if she’ll ever recover to the point of being like before,” Ino told Shin and Kagura one night as the three of them sat in Shin’s room. His roommates were out at the town’s local bar. “She’s been too scarred by this. I don’t know if she’ll ever be able to be rational around Sayo again.”

“What will we do if that happens?” asked the redhead. She glanced over at Shin’s bed where Sayo lay sleeping. Kagura’s eyes held concern.

“Nothing will change,” stated Ino. “I will still take care of Sayo. It’s almost like she’s my own daughter.” They’d been together since the day Sayo was born, so she might as well be Ino’s surrogate daughter. The motherly feelings were there, she couldn’t deny that. She didn’t know how she would continue to care for her once her mission started in earnest, though. The best she could do was hope that Mika recovered before then. “If you feel like you need to stop, I doubt anyone would blame you,” she added. She didn’t know how she would do caring for Sayo on her own, but at least Fye and Sakura and, surprisingly, the Mokona animal/thing were all good babysitters.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Shin scoffed. “Like I would make you do this alone.”

“We all will help,” piped up Kagura with a glance at Shin. She still hadn’t given up on the man, which caused Ino to admire her for her persistence, if not her wisdom in keeping up that persistence.

“Thank you,” Ino said. “I don’t know how I would get by without you two.”

“Mika is our friend too,” Kagura responded. “We owe it to her to help raise her daughter since she can’t.” She nodded her head to add emphasis, her red curls bouncing around in their confined ponytail.

“We’ll just have to pray she gets better and help speed her recovery along as best we can.”

~*~

The day Ino had been both anticipating and dreading for a long time finally arrived. That evening, more than three years since she left, the troupe arrived in Konoha. Ever since Sano announced that morning they would arrive in Konoha that day, Ino acted jittery. She had to repeat the hand seals for keeping her tent inside the scroll three times before it worked. Kagura volunteered to keep Sayo while they traveled, so the toddler sat next to the redhead while she navigated a team of horses through the snow. Ino and Shin stayed close by in case she needed a hand, but she had it well under control, so they found themselves wandering around helping other people. After Sayo tried to roll off the edge of her seat, Misao joined Kagura on the wagon and sat Sayo on her lap. Ino had a suspicion that the woman used that as an excuse to ride out of the snow, but she didn’t mind if that was the case. It gave her a chance to travel with Mika for a little while.

The blond woman had her hair pulled back out of her face, and she led one of the pack horses by a lead rope. Taking the place of another troupe performer, Ino walked next to Mika. “How are you feeling today?” she asked.

Green eyes glanced over at her. “I am all right,” she responded. She led her horse around a rock hidden in the deep snow. “It has been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“It has,” Ino agreed. “Are you excited about going to the next town?”

Mika nodded, but she exhibited the same excitement as she would at a food market. “I heard people say it’s one of the shinobi Hidden Villages. Do you think we’ll see shinobi there?”

“Most definitely. We saw some shinobi a few towns back, and they enjoyed the show. I’m sure they’ll come to see us.”

“I hope so.” Mika’s snow shoe fell through the snow, and she paused to get herself free. “I need more money so I can buy myself a tent. I don’t like burdening Misao like this, especially when she already has those other people to share with.”

They made more small talk before Ino moved away. Once again, Mika avoided any mention of Sayo, and Ino didn’t bring her up. She was more worried than ever about Sayo’s relationship with Mika. In the beginning, when Sayo would see Mika passing by, she would squeal and try to run to her mother, or move at a fast crawl until Ino, Shin, or Kagura grabbed her. Her little face got red, and she screamed and fussed, but Mika didn’t bat an eye or turn to see what was making the noise. Now, just a few days ago, she knew Sayo saw Mika, but the child didn’t react at all. Ino wasn’t sure the child remembered Mika.

They were stopped by two shinobi at the gate that Ino recognized, Kotetsu and Izumo, Hokage-sama’s helpers. Misao came out of the wagon, holding Sayo, and joined Sano and Moira in the front. Ino could see them talking, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. Papers exchanged hands, and Sano gave the troupe the go-ahead. Movement started up, and Ino watched as Misao and Sano follow the shinobi to the spot where they would set up.

The whole time Ino worked, she thought about her apartment and fought the urge to go look and see what the damage had been. Everything she had left behind was sold by now unless Hokage-sama had managed to keep the place off-limits. _Unlikely,_ she thought as she hauled another bag of corn kernels onto the shelf. _When shinobi die, all our effects are distributed according to our wills. I didn’t have a will, so everything must have been given to my parents._ She sighed. _But I still want to see it._

“Are you okay, Hikari?” asked Shin from the outside of the stall, where he was fixing the awning.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied. “I’m just a little tired from all the excitement.”

“I hear you. We’re all tired after traveling from morning until nightfall. But the show goes on tomorrow, and we have to be ready for it.” He tugged the rope, secured it to the hook, and climbed down from the ladder. “Sano said we’d be here for a while, so we should have some time to get back our strength. It’s weird that he said that, though. He doesn’t usually decide that until we see what kind of crowd we get.”

“Maybe it’s because this place is so big,” suggested Ino. She knew the real answer was so she would have a reason for staying here for an extended amount of time without making up an excuse, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Maybe.” He stretched and looked over as she shoved the last bag onto the shelf. “Ready to head back?”

She nodded, and the two of them went to find Moira. The woman was supervising the children, and she looked up at the sound of their footsteps. Smiling, she looked at the children and called to Sayo. “Guess who’s here?” she said, picking up the child.

Sayo caught sight of Ino and squealed, “Hikari!”

“Are you done?” asked Moira, handing Sayo to Ino and fixing her clipboard. “You two had this section,” she checked a box on her clipboard, “and here are your room keys. Get lots of rest tonight, okay?”

“Sure thing, Moira,” answered Shin as they walked away. “She’s like the whole troupe’s mother,” he murmured to Ino as they walked down the familiar roads to the inn.

“At least she cares about us,” responded Ino, checking to make sure Sayo’s mittens were still snugly on her small hands. “It keeps us in line.”

They reached their destination, and Shin stopped. “Good night, Hikari,” he said. “Sleep well. If you need any help with Sayo, I’ll be in room two twenty-three.”

She smiled. “Thanks, but I think I can handle her. Good night, Shin.” As she mounted the stairs, she shook her head. “He’s such a sweetheart.” Sliding the key into the lock, she slipped inside.

“It’s about time you got here.”

She didn’t stop taking off her shoes. “I came as soon as I could, Kurogane,” she answered. Sayo squirmed out of her arms and tottled over to where Sakura and Fye sat. “Are we going out tonight?”

He didn’t answer, just tossed her a bundle of dark clothes. Sighing, she entered the bathroom and changed. When she came out, she saw that Kurogane had his sword strapped to his back and was working on unlocking the window. Looking to her left, she saw Misao watching him from one of the beds. “Are you sure this is wise?” she asked. “We are surrounded by shinobi who look for suspicious people, and we would fit in that category.”

Misao chuckled. “Hikari, if you don’t try your skills against masters, how will you improve? Go see if you can keep them from spotting you. I just came to say good night since I won’t be here when you get back.”

With every nerve on edge, Ino followed Kurogane out the window and into the icy air of Konoha. She remembered doing the same thing years ago when she was still a Genin, and the most she was worried about was getting home too late so she would have time to get enough sleep. A few roofs away, she could imagine Chouji and Shikamaru leaping over slick shingles, all of them cursing Asuma-sensei inwardly about making them jump around for no apparent reason. Now she knew it had been to train them to keep their balance when the footing was treacherous, but back then it had just seemed plain mean.

She forced the nostalgia away. “Focus, Hikari,” she muttered to herself. Even now she couldn’t call herself by her real name. If someone happened to overhear, even when she was up above where most people walk, then matters would get more complicated than they needed to be.

Keeping an eye on Kurogane, she followed him as they headed towards the outer walls. If he hadn’t taken over much of her training, she never would have noticed he was there. He stuck to the shadows, and his shoes left no prints in the snow. This man was a talented shinobi, and Ino’s respect for him grew another notch. He knew what it meant to be a shinobi, and Ino was pretty sure that thanks to him, she knew more of the shinobi arts than anyone else did. Since he wasn’t from this world, if Fye’s memories were true, then the techniques he showed her might not even exist here. If it came to a fight, those new jutsu might end up saving her life, if only because no one had seen them before.

They stopped below the wall, and they dropped to the ground where the shadows were deeper. “We’re going to scout the perimeter,” murmured Kurogane in a voice that just reached Ino’s ears. “See where the weak points are, where the strong points are.”

“We aren’t going to attack Konoha,” Ino protested, her voice as low as his.

He narrowed his eyes. “Those places will have the most guards, and in order to see how stealthy you are, you need to be challenged. You should be up to it. Now go.” He took off towards the main gate, and Ino had no choice but to follow.

From the trees where she hid, Ino had a clear view of the guards that patrolled the top of the wall. The torches illuminated every person up there, and it struck her as ridiculous. _It’s dark out there, yet they surrounded themselves with light. It’s blinding them to what’s out in the dark, and whoever is coming can see them clearly._ She shook her head. _Maybe I’ll mention this to Hokage-sama next time I see her, or maybe Shizune._

They located three different potential weak spots before they returned for the night. Each time they moved, they got closer to the guards on the wall, and Ino was tempted to take over one just to get started on her mission, but, as if he could read her mind, Kurogane told her that they were only on an information mission, and anything extra could endanger that by alerting the guards that they were out here.

When they returned, Ino rinsed off in the shower, grateful for the hot water. It was only in large towns or cities that they were able to have running water, much less hot water. The smell of chamomile soap reminded her of home; her mother loved chamomile and lavender soap. Longing to see her family welled up inside her, but she pushed it down. _I can’t see them yet. I have to complete my mission. My dad would be ashamed of me if I didn’t put the mission before my feelings._

It felt like only a few minutes after Ino went to sleep that she woke up to Sayo’s crying. To keep anyone else from waking up she took out a prepared cup of milk from the fridge and staggered over to the crib. The baby quieted down and sucked on the top of the baby cup. Glancing at the clock, Ino saw that she had been sleeping for four hours. _Six in the morning isn’t too early to be getting up,_ she thought. _Sayo’s already up, so I doubt I’ll be able to get any more sleep anyway._ Pulling on her work clothes, she ate a quick bowl of cereal and, dressing Sayo in warm clothes, stepped out into the snow.

Even though the sun was not yet over the mountains, plenty of shinobi were going about their day. On the other side of the road she saw Konohamaru and his Genin team stumbling towards the Hokage tower. She was surprised she recognized them. _They’re so tall,_ she thought. She remembered when Konohamaru hadn’t reached her shoulder when she was a Genin, and now he would tower over her if they stood next to each other.

Walking past the shops, she saw a group of girls from one of the flower arranging classes she taught years ago. They were only six years old then, and now they were Chuunin, just like her. What a depressing thought. As she wandered through the aisle that sold produce imported from warmer countries, she turned to look at a bright fruit and bumped into someone. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized.

The man replied, “It was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Ino smiled at him, then felt her smile freeze on her face. Chouji’s father, Chouza, stood in front of her. Fortunately for her, he wasn’t looking at her. His attention was all on Sayo, and she seemed just as fascinated by him. “You have a beautiful daughter,” he said, extending a finger to the baby. She grabbed it and giggled as he wiggled it for her.

“Thank you,” responded Ino. “If only she would enjoy her beauty sleep more.”

He laughed his hearty laugh. “I remember when my son was like that. He wouldn’t sleep for more than a few hours at a time. It drove his mother and me crazy.”

Ino laughed with him. She didn’t remember Chouji being like that, but she did know that he slept less than she and Shikamaru did, and she and Chouji would always be bugging Shikamaru to wake up and play with them. It was a game for them, though it may not have seemed like it to poor Shikamaru, but it entertained the other two quite a bit.

After their laughter subsided, Chouza said, “I don’t remember seeing you around here before. Are you a visitor?”

Ino nodded. “I’m with the performance troupe that arrived yesterday,” she explained. “Hokage-sama gave us permission to come here, so we’ll be performing for a while down that way.” She pointed in the direction where the stalls were set up. “If you have time, you should come see us.”

The huge man smiled down at her and Sayo. “I’ll see what I can do,” he promised.

Ino watched as he shuffled away and let out a sigh of relief. _Not even someone I knew from childhood recognized me,_ she thought. _I should be okay. I can do this._ Some of her fears were put to rest, but a small portion remained. She doubted that part of her would ever disappear completely.

After passing many people she knew but didn’t speak with she returned to the area where she would warm up. Shin was already there, his baby pack strapped to his back. Seeing him, Ino smiled and said, “You’re always ready, aren’t you?”

He grinned and nodded. “When you do this every morning, I know what to expect now and can plan for it. Are you ready?”

Ino’s first performance in Konoha was not her best. Several times she wobbled and was only saved by Shin’s quick arms to steady her. She was sweating so much she was sure her make-up was running, despite the constant assurances that she looked fine. The strong smell of her dyed hair made her dizzy, which didn’t help her balance. At the end of the first show she sank onto a bench with her head between her knees. She felt rather than saw several people surround her. “Hikari, are you okay?” asked Kagura.

Without opening her eyes Ino nodded. “I’m just nervous,” she replied. “My feet aren’t working the way they’re supposed to.”

“I noticed,” said Shin. She could hear the worry in his voice. “You were fine this morning, but out there you were all over the place. Do you need to take a break?”

Slowly sitting up so she wouldn’t send the room spinning, Ino opened her eyes and forced out a smile. “No, I’ll be fine,” she assured them. “I just need some air, that’s all.”

They backed up and allowed her to walk past them. The crisp air cleared her head of most of the dizziness, and the bright sunlight calmed her. Through the soles of her thick shoes she felt familiar footsteps approach. “What happened?” asked Kurogane’s gruff voice. “That wasn’t like you.”

“I think I’m just nervous being back here,” she answered. “I want to do well, and I’m scared of messing up.”

From the look on his face, that wasn’t an acceptable answer. “You can’t think like that,” he commanded. “You have never been here before, and this is just another crowd to entertain. Any extra thoughts will result in what happened earlier. If you draw attention to yourself, your mission will become much harder. You must blend into the background.”

Ino’s cheeks reddened in shame that she had to be reminded of basic shinobi rules. “I understand, Kurogane,” she said. “It won’t happen again.”

With Kurogane’s advice at the front of her mind, the rest of the day’s performances went much better. It helped that the lights shone into the performers’ eyes so they couldn’t see who was in the audience, for which Ino was grateful. She would’ve frozen if she’d seen someone she knew watching her, and she knew most of the shinobi in Konoha. Even if she didn’t think of them as people she knew, she couldn’t enjoy performing. Her mind was preoccupied with too many things, and she still came close to missing some of her cues.

After the performances were done, Misao met her as she was changing into regular clothes. “I took Mika to the hospital here,” she told her. On her hip was a covered basket, one that looked like it came from the Konoha hospital.

“Is she okay? What happened?” demanded Ino, worry bubbling up. _Don’t tell me she had a relapse._

“I wanted to see if these medical ninja could help her,” Misao replied. “They are keeping her there at the hospital, but they gave me these medicines for when she returns.” She handed the basket to Ino. “If you don’t mind putting these away, I have to go meet with Sano.”

Ino watched the old woman hurry away, then looked down at the basket in her hands. It felt heavy enough to contain medicine. _I’d better put these in the room then,_ she told herself. _I don’t want to walk around everywhere with a basket of medicines on my arm._

As she turned a corner, she saw Dr. Rondart Kyle, Sakura’s man, talking with one of the performers. His eyes fell on the basket she carried, and he said good-bye to the performer and hurried over to her. “Miss, those belong in the hospital,” he said.

Ino hugged the basket to herself. “My friend is sick, and the doctor said that these were necessary to make her feel better.”

He looked confused. “Those baskets carry dangerous medicine, my dear,” he said. “The label on the side of the basket says your friend is seriously ill. Do you need someone to administer the medicine? A small percent error in the dosage could be fatal.”

“No, we have someone who can give the accurate dosage,” she assured him.

He didn’t look convinced. “Well, if you need someone to stop by, here’s my card.” He handed her a small piece of paper with his address on it. “I make house calls, and I can be anywhere within a few minutes if I am needed.”

“I will remember that.” She watched him walk away, then continued on her way to the inn. _I wonder if he and Sakura are still together,_ she wondered. _They might even be married by now if they did stay together._

No one was in the room when Ino entered. Setting the basket on her bed, she read the label that Dr. Kyle saw, and her eyes widened. “No wonder he was so concerned,” she murmured. The label had some powerful medicines listed, some borderline poisons. Opening the basket, she saw small vials of bright and dark liquids, pipettes, paper envelopes containing powders, and beakers of varying sizes. Going over to a desk, she started sorting them, putting the paper envelopes inside some beakers to save space, until she had the top layer out of the basket. Underneath the first layer and over the second layer of medicines, she saw a vanilla envelope. Opening it, she recognized Hokage-sama’s handwriting. It started out, “Shinobi list” followed by names of shinobi of the village. Without a doubt, this was the list she had been waiting for. Ino’s heart sank as she read through the names. There weren’t as many as she had thought there would be, but it included all of her graduating class of the Academy and Guy’s team except for Naruto and Rock Lee. Kurenai’s name was not on the list, nor was Iruka-sensei’s, thank goodness. However, there were still enough names that her head spun, and she had to sit down. _How will I check all these people? Some of them aren’t even in the village probably. How will I get this done in time?_

Unfortunately, there was no time like the present to get started on a mission. Committing the list to memory, she folded the list and clipped it to the inside of her belt. She would have to plan what to do as it happened. At the moment, Moira watched Sayo along with the other children of the troupe, so she knew the baby would be as safe as she could be, leaving Ino to do her job without worrying about her. Just to make sure, though, she asked Sakura and Syaoran to pick up Sayo when it was time. She knew she should have asked Kagura or Shin, but she happened to know that they both worked until late, and they would not be up to taking care of an energetic baby on top of that.

The evening sun painted pinks and oranges across the snow, but Ino didn’t notice; she was too preoccupied with finding a target. Her chance came a few minutes after she started wandering around the performance area. She saw one of Hokage-sama’s assistants, Kotetsu, walking around alone, looking at the items the troupe sold. His name happened to be on the list and, while she doubted either he or Izumo were the informants, she still had to check. Walking over to a blanket display, she busied her hands with straightening the blankets while covertly keeping an eye on the shinobi a few feet away. When he left, she waited a few seconds, then meandered after him, making sure to keep her attention on things around him but never looking directly at him.

While she followed him, Fye happened to bump into her. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized, bowing her head to him while keeping Kotetsu in her peripheral vision.

Fye looked at her with his ever-present smile. “Be careful,” he said, and even though his tone was light-hearted, Ino heard the warning in it. “It will make Kuro-tan cross if he has to rescue you and he doesn’t know where you are.”

So the wizard had an idea of what she was doing. Considering he was a traveling companion of Kurogane, that didn’t surprise her. She nodded to him and looked in Kotetsu’s direction. If she remembered correctly, he was headed towards a set of apartment complexes, and she would have one chance to do this. Ignoring the cramping feeling in the pit of her stomach, she hurried after him.

The shadows from the setting sun cast long areas of darkness on the ground and made the alleys almost impossible to see into, which was perfect for Ino’s plan. As he passed one of those alleys, she hit him with a genjutsu technique, stopping him in his tracks. Making the symbols with her hands, she muttered, “Sleep,” and hit his chest with her hand.

He collapsed forward, and Ino quickly dragged him deeper into the shadows of the alley. If anyone passed by the entrance, they wouldn’t see anyone back here, but just in case, she prepared a genjutsu trap for anyone who tried to enter the alley. Pulling off her gloves, she placed her hands on his temples and sent her mind into his body.

Unlike Mika’s mind, his was orderly, each thought categorized and placed in the appropriate file. The walls were lined with filing cabinets filled with memories of varying types. However, his mind also had defenses. When Ino reached for a filing cabinet, she received a shock that sent her reeling. Feeling around, she was shocked several more times before she found the deactivation switch. As far as mind defenses went, his weren’t difficult at all. Brushing aside excess defense shocks, she opened one of the filing cabinets and started flipping through, ignoring the other quivering files that clamored for her attention. For an amateur espionage shinobi, this would have taken forever, but Ino had been trained by her father, a master at the art, and she knew how to skim through files that weren’t important. It didn’t stop her from absorbing the information inside them, but as long as she didn’t give them her full attention, she could forget about those memories easier than the ones she took the time to pay attention to. Unfortunately for her, she chose an assistant to Hokage-sama as her first target, so he had plenty of memories with the key phrases she looked for. She looked through each one separately, but to her relief, none of his memories revealed him to be the bug she was looking for.

As she finished up sorting the memories back into their proper places, one drawer popped open and a file jumped up, waving itself around for her to notice it. Closing the drawer she was working on, she approached the file and opened it. If it wanted her to view it so badly, who was she to ignore the request?

This memory had nothing to do with her mission but everything to do with her. It looked like the shinobi had turned out en masse for a major event, and it wasn’t hard to tell what sort of event it was when every single person was dressed in black. The sky was clear with large, fluffy clouds, a beautiful day with perfect weather for just about anything. However, Kotetsu wasn’t focused on the weather or what sort of activities went along with this weather. Instead, feelings of sadness echoed inside his hollow body. It wasn’t a bone-wrenching sadness, but it was never a happy feeling that accompanied the sight of another dead comrade. That this one was so young made it worse. It was always worse when it was young people with so much of their lives left ahead of them.

He wasn’t close to the front where the body was being laid to rest, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see. Right before the open hole in the ground stood the deceased’s parents with their clan. Yamanaka-san held his sobbing wife, but he appeared to be in shock. His glassy eyes did not hold their usual, sharp intelligence, but once the men holding the casket lowered it into the ground, tears slid unashamedly down his weathered face. He appeared older than the last time Kotetsu saw him, but grief did that to people. The rest of the Yamanaka clan were in various states of distress, though most of them acted more like Yamanaka-san’s wife.

Right behind the Yamanaka clan stood the clans of Akimichi and Nara, as expected. The three clans were so closely linked that no one questioned their places. Kotetsu knew that the heads of the clan were expected to stay with the clan, but in his opinion, they would have supported Yamanaka-san better by standing right beside him in his hour of loss. But that would have been disrespectful for the rest of the Yamanaka clan, so he supposed that they made a good judgment call for the clan, if not for their best friend. The clans showed their respect at the loss of one of the Yamanaka clan, but they did not show the same grief, only the heads and their families. And that was no surprise, either. They were like one big family. The fathers were teammates; the children grew up together and became teammates also. Of course it would affect them as much as it did her parents. Yamanaka Ino was like a daughter to both the Nara and the Akimichi families.

Turning his attention, and thus Ino’s, to Chouji, Ino felt her heart break. Her big friend was quietly crying as he watched the casket sink into the ground. He also looked like he had lost some weight, which wasn’t a good thing for an Akimichi. If it wasn’t jutsu-related, then Chouji losing weight was a bad sign. It meant he was too upset by something to eat, and it looked like he stayed true to form. His clothing appeared to be too large, but they fit just fine the last time he needed them.

By his side, Shikamaru stood with his family. Unlike Chouji, his reaction was more like Inoichi’s. His blank face indicated that much of what he saw wasn’t registering in his mind. It wasn’t his usual, bored face. He looked like someone had taken the life out of him, leaving behind only a lifeless doll. When his father leaned over and whispered something to him, he didn’t react or even acknowledge the older man. His blank gaze stayed trained on the hole where his female teammate lay.

Hokage-sama stood in front of the tombstone marking Ino’s grave and spoke something Kotetsu was too far away to hear. The ninja in charge of burying Ino started piling the dirt over the casket, and Yamanaka-san’s wife lost her composure completely. She fell to the ground and wailed, her face buried in her hands. Yamanaka-san was no better, and he was on his knees beside her a few seconds later, though his was a quieter grief. One by one, the people approached Ino’s grave to pay their respects to her and her family. Only the Yamanaka clan returned to their former places afterward, and the heads of the Nara and Akimichi clans and their families stayed right beside Yamanaka-san and his wife. With the departures started, they felt no need to separate from the grieving couple.

One who was in just as bad shape as Yamanaka-san’s wife was Haruno Sakura. Kotetsu watched through misty eyes as she approached Ino’s covered grave. With a shaking hand, she placed a large, purple lily next to the tombstone, then collapsed against it. “Ino!” the girl screamed, her tears staining the stone a darker shade of gray. “You weren’t supposed to die first! You weren’t supposed to go yet…” The words trailed off as she lost control of her voice. The person behind her was Naruto, and he hurried to her side and whispered something in her ear. When he pulled her to her feet, she didn’t look like she resisted, but she relied on him to get both of them away from the grave to a more private place where she could mourn as much as she needed.

When Kotetsu’s turn came, he placed a flower, he wasn’t sure which kind, atop the newly-disturbed dirt that was already covered with plants that bloomed during the cold months and murmured his condolences to Ino’s parents. Like the ones before him, he received no acknowledgement from them, but Nara-san nodded his head in thanks in lieu of his friend. He was the only one of the bunch aside from his son who was holding himself together, though Kotetsu wasn’t sure he would claim Shikamaru was even aware of what was going on.

He headed back in the direction of the Hokage Tower with heavy footsteps. Even if there was a funeral, that didn’t mean the workload would cease. Faster footsteps from behind alerted him that his partner was coming, and within a few seconds Izumo walked beside him looking worse than he did. Reaching out, Kotetsu patted the other man’s shoulder once. For as long as he could remember, Izumo had a huge crush on Ino, and he was taking her death pretty hard. He’d wanted to confess to her before, but she was too young and obsessed with the Uchiha kid, and then they always seemed to miss each other once she was promoted to Chuunin. It didn’t help that even when their paths crossed, she was surrounded by their peers. Now it was too late, and Izumo would live with his regret for the rest of his life.

As the memory faded on the two entering the Hokage Tower, Ino did her best to separate her feelings from Kotetsu’s. After viewing that memory, they were so similar that it was difficult to distinguish which were hers and which were his. _I did that to my parents. I’m the reason they were like that._ It caused a physical ache in her heart when she remembered all the sorrow she saw in that memory, particularly her clan’s and Chouji and Shikamaru’s families and Sakura. When she accepted this mission, she hadn’t thought the consequences all the way through. Now she saw what her actions led to, and it filled her with guilt. _It’s not like I’m doing this for fun or to spite anyone,_ she told herself as she extricated her consciousness from Kotetsu’s. _I’m doing this on Hokage-sama’s orders to protect them and the rest of Konoha._ It didn’t make her feel better.

After arranging his memories so he wouldn’t remember her previous genjutsu she released her hold on his memories and returned to her body and looked down at him. Climbing up the side of the apartment complex under the light of the half moon, she sat down on the roof and released Kotetsu from the sleep genjutsu. She watched him get up and look around in confusion, then leave, shaking his head. With residual guilt still on her conscience, she let herself down a couple buildings away and slinked back to where she was staying.

~*~


	7. Chapter 7

Ino leaned against her doorframe, sweat pouring down her face. _Another one down,_ she told herself, taking out the paper and checking off another name from the list. She was a good portion of the way through the list, and she still hadn’t come across any sign of the bug. Yesterday she took out three more names, and the last one had taken her all night, so she hadn’t rested at all. Luckily for her, she wasn’t expected to perform today. Groaning, she pulled herself away from the doorframe and fell into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and exited, keeping a towel around herself for modesty’s sake; there were three men in the room, after all. Grabbing the first thing that her hand came in contact with, she pulled it on and was about to fall onto her bed when she heard a coo from the crib. Looking over, she saw Sayo standing by the gate, her chubby hands holding onto the gate as a support. “Do you want out?” asked Ino softly to keep from waking up the others.

Sayo cooed again, reaching for Ino with one pink hand. Giving the child a tired smile, Ino hauled herself up and picked up the toddler, letting out a small groan at how heavy she was. “You’re growing a lot, aren’t you?” she told Sayo as she gave her a baby cup. Even though she was almost four years old, she was still clumsy, and they didn’t have so many cups that they could afford to lose one to carelessness.

“Perhaps you should get some rest and let one of us watch her,” Fye’s voice said.

Turning around, she saw him sitting in bed, fully dressed, and her face turned crimson. He seemed to know what she was thinking and assured her, “I turned away as you dressed. I heard you come in a few minutes ago, and you look like you’ve been through the wringer. I’ll watch her while you sleep.”

She wanted to say no, she could take care of her, but Sayo reached for him, and he plucked the little girl from her arms. “Rest, Hikari,” he told her. “She will be safe.”

She didn’t remember answering him, just falling over onto her bed and blackness washing over her.

When she woke up, light shone through the blinds that shielded the windows of the room. She luxuriated in the feeling of sleeping late, something she hadn’t been allowed since she left Konohagakure. Oh, how she missed this feeling. Looking around, she noticed that the other beds were made and no one else was around, not even Mokona. Ino sat up and shrugged. _Since they gave me the day off, I think I’ll visit Mika._ Misao had placed the woman in the hospital when they arrived, and Mika hadn’t been allowed to leave since. This worried Ino, especially because she didn’t think that Mika was unwell aside from not bearing to be near her daughter. _I should bring flowers, too._ Yes, she did have an ulterior motive in that decision, but it was a standard practice to bring flowers or gifts to invalids.

Taking out a fair sum from her savings scroll, she made sure to change out her contacts and hide the smell of the hair dye, then walked out the door down the familiar road to her family’s flower shop. The sun reflected off the new snow, making Ino wish she had brought sunglasses with her. Along the sides of the road she saw Academy children chasing each other, and at one corner she saw a group of new Genin under the supervision of their Jounin sensei chasing a cat. The poor cat looked terrified, and the children looked angry. Ino chuckled to herself. _I remember those missions,_ she said to herself as they ran past. _I wouldn’t be surprised if that cat belonged to the same woman._

The walkways by the flower shop were the same. The sign outside was still the same faded green. Ino frowned. _They should have at least repainted that sign. I was thinking about doing that before I left on this mission._ She pushed open the door and entered.

Even the inside of the store hadn’t changed. Flowers of varying brightness decorated the inside. The imported plants sat farthest from the door so the cold wouldn’t affect them as much. No one was at the counter, so she wandered around, looking for flowers for Mika. She knew the scents of certain flowers were supposed to help speed up the healing process, and she was willing to give it a try if it gave Sayo back her mother. _Gardenias, hyacinths, snap dragon._ She lifted a few flowers here and there, creating her own bouquet of healing aromas. According to the rumor, by themselves they wouldn’t work; they had to be together in a certain ratio. However, it was just a rumor; she’d never seen evidence that it helped a person recover faster, and Shizune scoffed when Ino brought it up during one of their lessons, but rumors were based on truth.

When she finished making her selection, she headed back to the front, steeling herself as she did. “Did you find what you were looking for?” asked Inoichi, Ino’s father. He must have come in while she was wandering around the back because he was already waiting at the register when she arrived. He looked much older than Ino remembered, more tired-looking. While he wasn’t the mess she saw in Kotetsu’s mind, he was not the same as he was before he left for his mission, the one where he returned to find that his only daughter had died in a mission of her own.

“Yes, I did,” she replied after a moment’s hesitation. The kunoichi had to fight to keep her voice from betraying the emotions running through her. “May I have these wrapped together?” She couldn’t still the tremor in her hands, though.

He took her flowers and proceeded to place them in a vase. “A healing bouquet?” he asked. Even his voice sounded tired, and it was the middle of the day.

“A friend of mine is in the hospital and I thought this would help her.”

“I hope it does.”

Ino paid for the flowers and walked out before she started tearing up. Her father never looked like that! Even when he was beaten to the point of death, he never lost his vitality. That person back there looked like a shell of his former self, and it rattled her to see her father reduced to that state. Her father’s name was not on the list, and she wanted to run right back inside and tell him everything, but her will kept her going. _This is my Jounin mission, and I will complete it. I will not make my family ashamed of me._

The huge hospital loomed in Ino’s vision. On the inside, nurses and Medic-nin rushed around. She even saw Shizune running into a room wheeling a cart containing sharp implements. Walking up to the desk, she asked, “Do you know the room number of one of the troupe members? Her name is Mika.”

The woman looked through a few clipboards, then gave her a room number. Wandering through the halls and avoiding the various medical staff, Ino observed the names of the patients. _Neji? Neji’s here? Who could hurt him that he’s been here for a week already?_ Apparently they needed to keep him sedated so he didn’t feel the pain, and Ino gave a small sigh. _I was wondering how I’d get close enough to check him. If I do it soon, this will solve my problem._ Tenten had been on the same mission, and whatever got Neji got her, too. Her room was right next to his. _Talk about a lucky break,_ she thought as she passed. _If only the others were kept sedated also. It would be terrible, but it would make my job much easier._

When she arrived at Mika’s room, she found Shin, Asahi, and Sano with her. They looked up as she entered, and Mika smiled. “Hikari, I’ve wondered where you were,” she said. “We’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” replied Ino, handing her the bouquet. “I hope you like these.”

“Oh, they’re beautiful,” Mika said, examining the flowers. “But isn’t this the wrong season for them?”

“I found a shop that sells imported flowers as well as local ones. I thought you would enjoy some color in here. Hospitals don’t have much, so I hope this brightens your day when you feel down.”

She almost looked like she did before her estrangement from her daughter. “I appreciate this. Thank you, Hikari.”

The rest of the room continued chatting with Mika, and Ino sat back and listened while they told her about the show and how everyone was doing. The new tightrope section was a big hit, and they’ve incorporated more acts using it, which means more people have to be trained to navigate the tightrope without their voices constricting in fear. One of the mares had foaled, so now they would have to wait for a while so they wouldn’t have to leave both behind. They didn’t mention Sayo.

Voices from out in the hallway caught Ino’s attention. She knew that she recognized one of the voices, it was as familiar as her own, but she couldn’t match up a face to the voice. As the conversation in the room carried on without her, she focused more on the conversation outside and tried to run through names in her head that could match it, but she only drew blanks. Then, at the door appeared Nara Shikamaru. His hair was in its customary ponytail, and he was dressed like he was returning from a mission. Three small children walked close to him, but Ino didn’t pay attention to them. Her body was a swirl of emotion. The last night she was in Konoha left her furious, the time in the town where Sayo was born made her concerned, and Kotetsu’s memory of him at her funeral had her on a guilt trip, and she struggled to keep her face impassive.

Because she was watching his face, she saw the shock that made him freeze in his tracks in the doorway. His jaw dropped slightly, and his dark eyes were wide. This was an expression Ino had never seen on his face before. Also because she was watching Shikamaru, she didn’t notice that Mika spotted him at the same time he spotted her. She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes and mouth mirroring his, but there were subtle differences. The hurt and rage closely resembled what Ino felt inside, and Mika didn’t hide her feelings. “Again!” she cried, startling everyone. “His eyes are everywhere! Why won’t he leave me in peace?” With a wail, she threw herself against her pillows.

Ino ran to Mika to calm her down and glanced back at Shikamaru. He still had the same look on his face. His lips started to form a word, but one of the nurses, summoned by Mika’s cry, shooed him away. “We’ll take care of her,” she heard the nurse say.

It took hours before Mika calmed down again. They all had to assure her that no, that was not Toya, it was just one of the resident shinobi. Eventually only Ino remained. Shin had wanted to stay, but Asahi and Sano made him leave so he could rest for the next day’s performance. “Hikari, why am I so affected by this?” mumbled Mika. The nurse had given her a sedative, and she was starting to get drowsy. “Why can’t I move on? I can’t even bear to see my own child because she reminds me of him.” She buried her face in her arms, barely avoiding the IV drip.

This was the first time she mentioned Sayo on her own. Ino smoothed Mika’s hair, trying to comfort her. “Yukito probably talked to the villagers where the attack was. So many people died there.”

The distraught woman leaned against Ino. “I’m not right,” she moaned. “Every time I see that child, I want to strangle her, and I know it’s not her fault. I can’t stand being reminded of him.” Her whimpers were getting softer; the sedative was working. “Please don’t let me hurt my child.”

“She will be taken care of,” promised Ino, but Mika was already beyond hearing. Laying her friend back against the pillows, Ino stuck her head out the door and made her way to Tenten’s room. She was nowhere near as hard to break as Neji, so Ino wanted to start with her first. _Remember, look for out of the ordinary behavior,_ she reminded herself. That was another thing her father taught her. When people became double agents, they were so worried about acting normal that they started acting odd or unlike their usual selves. Only experienced or gifted individuals were able to maintain their usual routines and behaviors when they betrayed the people close to them.

No one was with Tenten, so Ino sat down next to the sleeping woman and set up the standard genjutsu. Sinking into the other woman’s mind, she saw herself in what appeared to be an armory. The memories were in weapons’ boxes, and she started going through them after disabling Tenten’s defenses. Flipping through her memories for the key phrases, she stopped when something else caught her eye. She stopped and pulled out the memory, watching as the armory shifted to the pine-needle forests around Konoha. The snow lay thick on the ground and she, Neji, and Shizune ran through the canopy to keep from leaving footprints. None of them were breathing hard, and they had six Genin with them. _They must be with Neji and Tenten,_ Ino observed, seeing how they stayed closer to those two than Shizune. They didn’t stick like burrs to either of them, but they stayed in groups of three, and those two groups stayed closer to either of the other Jounin. She saw a couple of the Genin throw quizzical glances at Shizune mingled with awe.

Suddenly Shizune dropped to the ground, and the rest followed suit. “What’s wrong?” asked Neji, looking around and getting into a defensive stance. His students followed suit.

Hokage-sama’s assistant looked around, frowning. “I thought I saw something,” she answered, glancing back the way they had come. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you,” he stated. Turning to his Genin he said, “Stay here with Tenten-sensei and Team Four.”

“Yes, sir!” they exclaimed, saluting and running over to Tenten.

Tenten’s face showed a brief flicker of surprise, then she entertained the Genin by doing small tricks with her assorted weapons. They watched her with rapt attention, their eyes wide as she juggled huge maces and sharp kunai. They were just returning from the groups’ first C-ranked mission, and she didn’t feel the need to lecture them when they’d already spent several days straight being lectured as they escorted a fisherman back to his village. Shizune’s scream a few minutes later caused her to sprint in the direction the other Jounin had gone in, the Genin a few feet behind her. “What is it?” she cried when she saw Neji’s back, her weapons ready to attack.

Neji moved aside, and Tenten gasped in horror, as did Ino, while the Genin hid their faces. _Mika? What’s she doing here?_ she wondered, then slapped herself. Mika wouldn’t wear that uniform or fishnets. _That’s the me Shizune put out here for my “death”._ She stepped closer. _They did a good job. I would even think that was me._

“What happened to her?” asked Tenten. “She was supposed to be on an easy mission. Is there any trace of the people she was supposed to be with?”

Neji shook his head. “Hers is the only body I sense. We need to report this to Hokage-sama immediately.”

He moved to pick up Ino’s body, but Shizune stepped between them. “I’ll do it,” she said, her voice dull. “She was my student, and I’m the one who suggested to Tsunade-sama that she take the mission. I need to do this.” Neji stepped back and allowed her to pick up Ino’s limp body.

Zipping forward, Ino saw them deliver the body to Hokage-sama. Shizune and Tsunade-sama did a convincing job of acting shocked and sorrowful. Tenten left with the Genin so Neji and Shizune could make a report on their completed mission and finding Ino’s body. She didn’t know what to tell the distraught Genin around her. “This is why we have to have an accurate labeling of missions,” she told them. “Ino was a Chuunin, and she was assigned a Chuunin mission, but the employer lied about the danger involved, and she lost her life because of it. Do you see why we only take on missions we’re ready for?”

All six heads nodded. “Hey, you don’t need to make an example of me,” retorted Ino, even though she knew they couldn’t hear her.

“How was the mission?” asked someone coming up the hallway as Ino allowed the memory to fade.

“Oh, Shikamaru, our mission was fine,” Tenten started, but he interrupted before she could keep going.

“Hokage-sama needs to talk to me about something…” The memory faded, leaving Ino back in the armory. _So that’s how they pulled it off,_ Ino thought. _But I don’t have time to watch everything about my death. I have to get this done and do Neji._

To Ino’s relief, none of the rest of Tenten’s memories revealed anything that condemned her, and after erasing her presence from the woman’s mind she slipped next door to the Hyuuga’s room. Entering his mind took more caution than entering Tenten’s mind. The Hyuuga clan was quite powerful, and Ino didn’t know what to expect from him. Inside his mind, the scene was one of the Hyuuga training compounds. Taking a step inside the training ring, Ino found herself flat on the ground. Sitting up, she tried again, only to have the same result. “This is not good,” she muttered.

Sending out her senses, she evaded the blows and stopped beside a small well with stone walls and a conical thatch roof. Somehow this was supposed to disarm his defenses. Peering over the edge, she couldn’t see the bottom of the well. Feeling along the edges of the wall, she found an impression of what looked like a ring of some sort, but there was no ring. “The ring must be the way to disarm this,” she said. “Where would he put it though?”

She didn’t feel the vibe from the “disarming device” near the training grounds, and the only other place that existed was inside the well. Taking out a grappling hook her consciousness conjured, she hooked it to the top of the well and started to lower herself, feeling around the edges of the stones. She must have gone down thirty yards before her questing fingers caught on something that wasn’t smooth stone. Feeling around the rough area, she poked and prodded until she felt something give, and a whole brick came out of the wall. Elated, she tucked it under her arm and hauled herself back up.

Out in the sunlight, she saw that the brick was in truth a box with a complex lock. Ino didn’t have time to waste, so instead of figuring out how to open the lock, she smashed the box open. The ring fell out among the splinters. Placing the ring against the impression, the seams disappeared, and she felt a vast pressure vanish. Over in the practice ring, white baskets appeared in rows. Walking over to them, she started going through the memories they contained.

It didn’t take as long as she thought it would. Like Kotetsu’s mind, Neji was on orderly person, and his thoughts reflected that. It took much longer than with Tenten, but at the end, Ino ascertained that he was not the one she was looking for. Just as she was about to leave, one basket of thoughts called to her. Her back was turned, but she felt the basket jump and shake. Glancing back, she saw it vibrating, willing her to pay attention to it. Walking back over, she let out the memory.

It was the same scene that she saw from Tenten’s point of view earlier that night. She saw Shizune’s impressive acting skills at finding her body and Neji’s shock at finding a woman who was supposed to have left the area days ago on a C-ranked mission. The scene played out until they arrived at Hokage-sama’s tower, and Tenten took the Genin out. Tsunade-sama looked serious while Neji made the report of the mission they were returning from when they discovered Ino. “What will we do about this, Tsunade-sama?” asked Neji, indicating Ino’s body lying on the desk.

Hokage-sama’s hands were folded under her chin. “I will look and see what information we have on the people who hired her, and I will send Shizune out to investigate,” she replied. “She was killed for a reason, and I want to know what she found out that made her too dangerous to live.”

“Yes, Tsunade-sama,” said Shizune, bowing.

Behind them, Ino saw the door open, and Shikamaru entered. “You wanted to see…” he started, then stopped. His face was one of disbelief. Ino could see his throat working, but no sound came from his mouth.

Shizune spoke. “I’m so sorry, Shikamaru,” she said, taking a step toward him. “We found her on our way back. The people who hired her lied about the danger involved in the mission.” She looked at him, concern in her eyes. “Are you all right? Do you need to sit down?”

He swallowed several times and shook his head. “No, I’m fine,” he answered. His voice shook. “She knew the risks of being a shinobi, just as we all do.” He looked at Tsunade-sama, his face stricken. “If you will excuse me.” He spun on his heel and left without hearing why the Godaime had summoned him.

His actions surprised Ino. _I can see why he’s upset, but not why he left without listening to Hokage-sama. He has a stronger sense of responsibility than that._

Ino allowed the memory to fade, then re-entered her own body. A sound from the outside caused her to dive behind Neji’s hospital bed even though her genjutsu was still in place. A nurse looked in the window and moved on when she noticed nothing unusual. Once the footsteps faded, Ino erased her presence from his mind. He might have passed it off as a delusion during his sedation, but Ino didn’t want to take the chance that he would remember and start putting things together. With Neji, that scenario was entirely too possible.

As she walked away from the hospital and toward the inn, she wondered about the two extra memories she saw in Tenten and Neji. She didn’t know why, but Shikamaru’s actions bothered her. _He’s not one to let his emotions get in the way of work. He did look like he was going to be sick when he saw my body, but I know he wasn’t that squeamish even back then. We’d both seen enough dead bodies to cure us of that._ It made no sense to her. Yes, they were teammates way back, but people lost teammates all the time. It was part of being a shinobi, and he was known for keeping a cool head in even the direst of circumstances. So why would he hurry away like he did?

A dark thought slipped in. _What if it was to report my death?_

The thought startled her enough that she stopped walking. _Why would my death matter to the bug?_ she asked herself, but she already answered her own question. The Yamanakas were in a prime position to discover who the informant was because of their Bloodline trait, but all the Yamanakas except Ino were already sent out on other missions. With Ino dead, the informant was free to gather as much information as he pleased and remain relatively free of worry if he continued to use caution. No one would force a confession if he wasn’t caught, and only the Yamanakas could do what they called “forceful interrogation” if he was singled out and unwilling to talk.

Ino shook her head. _There’s no proof,_ she scolded herself. _Don’t make things up as you go. It’s just one time that he acted out of character._ Unfortunately, that was the sort of behavior she was supposed to look for, and she couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

She turned a corner and saw bright lights coming from Ichiraku Ramen shop. The smell of freshly-made ramen caused her mouth to water and her stomach to grumble. _Well, I did use a lot of chakra looking through Tenten and Neji’s minds,_ she decided, forcing herself to stop thinking about Shikamaru’s odd behavior. _I think I can treat myself to ramen._

Even before she stepped inside she knew she would find at least one person inside. Sure enough, she recognized the back of Naruto’s jacket and his loud voice as he joked with the owner and his daughter. By his side sat Sakura, Dr. Kyle, and Sai, all looking like they were enjoying themselves. Sakura’s red uniform had slight smudges of dirt around the edges, as did Naruto’s and Sai’s clothes. _They must have just returned from a mission,_ she noted, sitting a few stools down from them.

The owner of Ichiraku walked over to her, a smile on his kind face. “What can I get for you, miss?” he inquired.

Glancing at the menu, she pointed to the dish she always ate when she came here. “I’ll have this,” she said.

The man nodded and went to prepare her dish. From the other side of Naruto, Dr. Kyle leaned around him and looked at her. “You’re from the troupe that arrived a while ago,” he exclaimed, moving around to sit next to her. “I do believe you had that basket of medicine for your friend. How is she?”

Startled that he would remember her, it took Ino a couple seconds to form a response. “She is doing better,” she answered. “She had to return to the hospital, but they tell us that she is recovering.”

“I’m so glad to hear it.” The doctor smiled at Sakura, who had come to see what caught her man’s fancy. “Sakura, this is one of the performers I told you about.”

“Oh.” Sakura looked at Ino and stuck out her hand. “I’m Haruno Sakura,” she introduced herself. “I just got back, but I hope to see your performance. How long are you staying?”

Ino took her hand and shrugged. “It’s up to the head man, but it sounds like we’ll be staying for a while. We’re all close, and I don’t think anyone will want to leave Mika behind. Your hospital and doctors are giving her the help we couldn’t while on the road.”

At that point, the owner returned with her ramen, and she started in while answering questions directed at her from all four people. “Do you think I could perform too?” Naruto wanted to know. “I can do tricks.”

“You would just mess up everyone,” Sakura scolded him, rapping him on the head.

Watching their banter made Ino feel like she was truly home, and she laughed at their antics along with Kyle. Sakura froze mid-swing and looked at her. The light atmosphere disappeared, and the others drew close to the rose-haired girl. She noticed and gave them all a small smile, saying, “It’s okay, I’m fine.”

“Are you okay?” asked Ino. _That’s not how she used to act when someone laughed._

“I’m fine,” she repeated. Then, as if she felt like she had to elaborate, she continued. “My friend passed away on a mission a few years ago, and she had the same laugh as you. I thought of her, that’s all.” She looked down. “When I stopped by the hospital earlier, I saw someone who looked exactly like her, too.”

“You already had her on your mind, so you thought of her when you heard her,” Kyle soothed her, putting a hand on her shoulder and nodding at Ino. “You’re just overstressed right now, so your mind’s all over the place.”

For the few minutes it took Ino to finish her ramen, the others kept the conversation on lighter things in an attempt to cheer up their kunoichi friend. “I’ll make sure to see you perform!” she heard Naruto yell as she left. “Look for me!”

Smiling and waving at the energetic man, Ino trotted back to the inn. _I haven’t seen Sayo since this morning. I hope she’s okay. I feel bad making them watch her all day, even if it does mean I can do my job._ The thought of seeing Sayo made Ino’s smile grow. That little girl had a special place in her heart, and she intended to make good on her promise to Mika that she would be taken care of.

“Hikari!”

Ino knelt and caught Sayo as she ran to her. “Were you a good girl today, Sayo?” she asked, spinning her around.

The blond toddler giggled. “Sayo good,” she chirped.

“Why are you still up? It’s way past your bedtime.” Walking across the room, Ino put Sayo in her crib and caressed her cheek. “Good night, Sayo.”

Of course, the baby wouldn’t go to sleep until the rest of them did unless she was too tired to stay awake. If she had her own room, it would be a different matter, but with several people shut in one room, the place was not conducive to early sleeping. “You should just let her run around,” advised Fye from his position on the floor, his back against Kurogane’s bed. “She won’t go to sleep, and she’ll fuss if you don’t let her out.”

Sure enough, Ino could hear the whimpers start behind her. Sighing, she turned around and picked up the little girl. Sayo snuggled close to Ino as the woman sat on her bed with Sakura. “I didn’t see much of her today,” she murmured. “She should get some attention from one ‘Mommy’.”

“What were you doing all day?” rumbled Kurogane. He sat cross-legged by the window, his sheathed sword in his hand.

“I visited Mika. She seems to be doing better, and she realizes that she’s not being rational, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to be around Sayo.” She looked at Misao. “I don’t know if even the most knowledgeable doctor here can cure her. She knows that if she sees Sayo, she’ll hurt her, but she’s not strong enough to repel those feelings.”

“What will happen to the baby then?” asked Mokona from Sakura’s lap. The long-eared white thing looked concerned about Sayo’s welfare. “She won’t have a parent to look after her. Poor thing.”

“Hey, I promised to look after Sayo, and I meant that!” Ino felt indignant. “She may not be my child, but Mika is like family, and family helps each other.”

“Sayo is lucky to have someone like you,” Fye commented. “Not many abandoned children find someone who is willing to take them in.” His expression was serious, unlike the usual Fye he displayed for everyone. “I’m sure she will have a happy childhood with you.”

“I will do my best, as will everyone else.” If Sayo didn’t stay in Konoha, it would most likely fall to Shin and Kagura to take care of her. Maybe then the redhead would get her wish.

~*~

Ino had to perform the next day, but once she finished at three, she made sure to pick up Sayo and walk around with her, stopping every once in a while to let the little girl play at one of the playgrounds. The child loved playing with other children, and Ino kept watch as Sayo squealed and played with the other little ones her age. Around the perimeter of the small playground, Ino saw young mothers or older grandmothers keeping watch on their respective children, so she knew that if something went wrong, she wouldn’t be the only person there to run to the rescue. However, more often than not, Sayo was happy to play with the stuffed rabbit Ino had given her while Ino carried her around the area near the troupe’s allocated area, looking for more targets to cross off from her list. With the child charming the adults around her, Sayo had a few more toys to play with, but her toy of choice still remained that worn rabbit that Ino had picked up in the town where Sayo was born.

Ino found that more people were willing to approach her when she carried Sayo, so she took to wandering around with her baby on her hip. The more people saw her out in the open with a child, the less likely they would think she would be involved in the shinobi life, so if something went wrong and one of the targets caught a glimpse of her, they wouldn’t associate that person with Ishigawa Hikari of the performance troupe.

As luck would have it, she saw Kiba running with Akamaru in the park close to where the troupe site was. The young Inuzuka dodged when the huge dog pounced on the spot where his master used to stand, an expression of bliss on both their faces. Pretending to wander, she made her way to a bench and sat down to watch them. Sayo was not happy with her decision, and when Akamaru missed Kiba once again and landed with a few yards of them, her small face screwed up, and she buried her face in Ino’s shoulder with a wail. “Shh,” Ino tried to calm her. “He won’t hurt you, Sayo.”

Both Kiba and Akamaru looked over at Sayo’s cry. The man trotted over, his dog at his heels. “I’m sorry about that,” he apologized, sheepishly putting a hand behind his head. “We were just enjoying our day off.” He bent down closer to Sayo. “Hey, he won’t hurt you. Akamaru’s a nice dog.” The dog whuffed in agreement, and Sayo felt like she was trying to merge herself with Ino’s body, she pressed against her so hard. Returning his gaze to Ino, he said, “I didn’t know anyone was watching.”

Ino smiled while still rubbing soothing circles on Sayo’s back. “I should be the one to apologize,” she said. “We just came out here. I finished performing, and I thought a change of scenery would be good for us. Her mother isn’t well, so it falls to me to try to keep her occupied.”

With Akamaru curling up behind him, Kiba sat next to Ino on the bench. “Is her mother okay?” he asked.

“She’s in the hospital right now,” she answered, her mind whirring with ideas of how to get him alone, without Akamaru, and rejecting each scenario she came up with. “We’re hoping for the best right now.”

Kiba’s expression changed. “Oh, _she’s_ her mother,” he said, looking away.

“What do you mean? Have you seen her?”

Looking up, Kiba’s face was somber. “She looks like a classmate of mine that died a few years ago,” he answered.

As touching as it was that so many people were affected by her dying, she knew she didn’t mean that much to most of them. Sure, she and Kiba had flirted with each other a few times, but nothing ever came of it. There was no reason at all for him to still be affected by her death. “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately,” Ino said. “Was she that special?”

“You wouldn’t think so. She wasn’t that great a kunoichi, and she had a temper on her.” Ino did her best to not slap the Inuzuka. “She was better at being a florist than a shinobi, but when we heard she died, it hit us all kind of hard. I mean, I remember when we were all kids, and now one of us is gone.” His eyes grew shadowed. “She was the first one of us to go, and I can’t speak for the others, but that’s when I realized that we wouldn’t always make it out alive on a mission. I was starting to think that we were immortal, that we would pick ourselves up after a rough mission and keep going as normal every time.”

He stopped talking, and Ino mulled over this piece of news. Never would she have thought her death would have this kind of impact on her teammates. Neji and Tenten hadn’t shown those kinds of feelings, but then again, they were a year older than the rest of them, so Ino hadn’t spent as much time with them.

Sensing his master’s distress, Akamaru pushed his nose against Kiba’s arm, and Kiba scratched him behind his ears. “Sorry to be a downer,” he said, attempting to sound lighthearted. “I’m not usually like that.”

“It’s nothing to apologize for,” Ino told him. “And I’m the one who brought it up.” She stood up. “I should take her inside before she freezes.” Extending her hand, she smiled as the Inuzuka took it in his own and shook. “It was nice to meet you. I know it’s a late introduction, but my name is Hikari.”

He grinned. “I’m Inuzuka Kiba, and I’m just as guilty of a late introduction as you are. You’re one of the performers who came to Konoha a little while ago, right? I’ll stop by some time and look for you.”

She walked away as Kiba started running again, Akamaru hot on his heels. He didn’t seem tense, so either he had an easy mission coming up or he was on a break. If she remembered correctly, Kiba always got excited right before going on a mission that involved leaving Konoha for more than a few days, so she could expect him to be around for a while. Now that she had her target, she felt a seed of worry take root. _This is the first classmate I’m going to check. I doubt Kiba’s the bug, but what if he is? What if it’s one of the Genin Nine?_ She pushed those thoughts out of her head. She would do what she had to do.

Ahead, standing in the souvenir section, she spotted Kagura. “Do you know where Shin is?” she asked after Kagura’s customers moved on.

“I think he went to check on Mika,” Kagura replied, wiping sweat from her forehead. “Why, do you need him for something?”

Ino shook her head. “I was just going to see if he wanted to visit Mika since I was thinking of going.”

“With her?” She nodded at Sayo, who was preoccupied with her stuffed, floppy-eared bunny.

“I won’t go into the room. I just want to make sure she’s okay.” She hurried away before the redhead could say anything else. _I just want to make sure she’s okay,_ she repeated to herself. _As long as I stay out of sight, she won’t get upset._

The hospital was still busy, but she knew the way to Mika’s room, so she didn’t need to stop anyone to ask for directions. The white-washed walls looked the same, but thanks to the training Ino had done here earlier, she was familiar with the subtle differences that let the staff know where they were. The three green lines followed by one orange line at the bottom of the name cards told her that she was in the poison ward, which meant she was nearing her destination. As she approached the hallway where Mika stayed, she slowed her pace, and when she rounded the corner, she stopped.

Right where she had planned on standing someone else stood, watching the people in Mika’s room, or more specifically, Mika. His back was to her, so all she saw was the back of his Jounin vest, but she knew that stance, that ponytail that made his head resemble a pineapple. “Can I help you?” she inquired, keeping her voice low.

He jerked and spun around. He seemed at a loss for words. “Did you need something?” continued Ino, stepping forward.

He took a step backward, but he was careful not to be in the doorway. Looking down, he mumbled something under his breath, but Ino couldn’t distinguish any words. “I’m not sure it’s a good thing for you to be here. You remind her of something that traumatized her not too long ago.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s not your fault.”

Looking distinctly uncomfortable, Shikamaru asked, “Are you here to see her?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Oh, you don’t have to leave.” She caught his arm as he tried to move past her. “I’m just going to do what you did. I can’t go in with this little one here.” Sayo clapped her hands as Ino shifted her onto her hip. “She reacts the same way she reacted to you when she sees her daughter.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shikamaru look at the toddler. “Her daughter?”

“Yes. She has her father’s eyes.”

They stayed outside looking in for a few minutes, Ino because she wanted to check on Mika, Shikamaru probably because he didn’t know what else to do. The kunoichi still felt sad when she heard Mika’s feeble laugh. It used to be so carefree, but now it had a cynical undertone. In her arms, Sayo shook her bunny, not paying attention to the voice which once made her drop everything and run to the owner.

When Sayo started getting antsy and tried squirming out of her arms, Ino decided it was time to leave. She started walking back toward the lobby and was surprised to find that Shikamaru was walking with her. In fact, she was surprised he had stayed as long as he did. “Did you know Mika’s family?” she asked as they walked.

“No,” he replied. “She just reminds me of someone.”

“Oh, you were in that one girl’s class too? The one who looks like Mika?”

He looked sharply at her. “What do you know about Ino?”

Taken aback by the ferocity of his question, Ino stammered, “I’ve heard many people say that since we’ve been here. Inuzuka-san was telling me about it earlier.”

Some of the tension went out of him. “Yeah, Ino was in my Genin team. We grew up together.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Ino didn’t know what else to say, but a group of Genin saved the day. They ran over to Shikamaru, clamoring for his attention. “Shikamaru-sensei!” yelled a chubby girl with violet pigtails. “We found it! We found it!”

A boy wearing dark glasses, one of the Aburame clan, held a basket of medicine similar to the one Ino had received her instructions from, and he held it out to the shadow-user. The last Genin, a freckled brunette, jumped around his other teammates. “That was too easy, Shikamaru-sensei!” he exclaimed. “We’re ready for harder missions.”

The Nara took a look at the cowering Sayo and berated his students. “Keep your voices down,” he admonished them. “This is a hospital.”

All three looked over at Ino and the child on her hip. “Sorry,” they mumbled, bowing. “We have to take this to Hokage-sama,” declared the brunette, turning to face Shikamaru again. “She has to let us get harder missions than this. She has to!”

“How troublesome,” the Jounin grumbled, rubbing his head. “All right, let’s go take it to Hokage-sama. I’m sorry about that,” he said to Ino as his students pushed him on.

Ino smiled and waved as they disappeared. _What was with his reaction?_ She couldn’t figure it out as she walked back to the inn. _Yes, we were on the same Genin team, but we hardly saw each other. He didn’t even visit me when I was in the hospital for two weeks after a bad espionage mission. With all the surprises I’ve had, it wouldn’t faze me if Shino confesses that he loved me his whole life and was too afraid to show it._

As she strode up the road to the inn, Kagura ran to catch up with her. “Hikari!” she shouted, running after her. “How was the visit?”

She waited for the redhead to catch up. “She’s still getting better, but she’s nowhere near the same,” Ino answered. “I don’t think Sayo remembers her.”

“I’m not surprised. They haven’t been able to bond for a while. Anyway, since you have tomorrow off, could you pick up some things for me?” She handed Ino a shopping list and a bag with a decent amount of weight to it. “If that’s not enough, I’ll pay you the difference.”

“Sure, I’ll look around,” replied Ino, glancing down at the paper in her hand. “What is this for?”

“I want to send some things back to my family from the places we visit.” She smiled a self-conscious smile. “I want them to know that I’m doing well. They didn’t want me to go; they thought that I would have a more stable life back there.”

Returning her smile, Ino nodded. “I’ll do my best to find souvenirs for you,” she promised.

Back at the room, she found Fye mending a shirt and Kurogane watching the goings-on outside the window. Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona sat on one of the beds playing a game of cards. From the looks on Syaoran and Mokona’s faces and the large stack of colored stones next to Sakura, the girl was beating the other two by quite a bit. As soon as she entered, Fye picked up his toolkit and put it inside the top drawer of the dresser, out of reach of a certain toddler. “Did you enjoy your free time, Hikari-san?” asked Syaoran. No one had been able to break him of his formal speech, even after spending so much time around people who used no honorifics.

“I did,” she replied, removing Sayo’s heavy coat and mittens. “I was able to see Mika from the doorway, and she seems a little better than before we came here.” No need to mention running into Shikamaru or Kiba.

Sakura looked over at the two of them. Her soft, emerald eyes glittered in the lamplight. “Will you be gone again tonight?” she asked.

Ino hesitated, then nodded. “I have some errands to run,” she replied. She trusted them, and as long as they didn’t ask for specific details, she didn’t mind answering their questions. After all, Misao trusted them, and Kurogane and Syaoran trained with her, so they already knew she wasn’t an average person. They let her do what she needed to do and didn’t try to interfere, and she left them and their mysterious circumstances alone.

“Don’t stay out so late,” Fye joked as Sakura took Sayo. “We worry about you, especially Kuro-rin.” He poked the black-haired ninja with a finger. The other man looked like he wanted to bite off that finger.

“Speak for yourself,” Kurogane grumbled. “She knows what she’s doing.”

“Will you be gone long?” asked Syaoran. “She started asking for you last night.” She knew he meant Sayo.

Ino met the boy’s earnest eyes. “I’m not sure,” she answered, grabbing fresh clothes. “I don’t think so, but it’s possible. I’ll see everyone in a bit.”

Tracking the Inuzuka took more time than she thought. By the time she arrived at the park, he and Akamaru were already gone. However, the heavy dog’s footprints were still visible underneath the new-fallen snow. Pretending to wander, she followed the tracks until they led to swept main roads, where they disappeared. Ino hid a scowl and looked around. _If I had a huge dog with me, the places I could go would be limited. Which direction did they go?_ Scanning the ground, she noticed a small tuft of white fur caught on some prickly bushes by the side of the road. Ambling over to the bush and covertly removing the fur, she brought it to her nose and stifled a sneeze. _That is definitely dog hair,_ she thought. _So they went towards Kurenai-sensei’s apartment._

Now that she had a destination in mind, she picked up her pace and arrived to see Asuka, Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei’s daughter, and Kurenai-sensei waving good bye to her quarry and his two former teammates. Making sure that she stayed a good ways behind them, Ino stalked the three Jounin and watched as first Hinata, then Shino left in the direction of their homes, leaving Kiba and Akamaru to make their way back to the Inuzuka compound. A thought occurred to her. _How am I going to get him without getting attacked by Akamaru?_ That was going to be an issue. She knew that the moment she put Kiba to sleep, the huge dog would appear to rip her body to pieces.

Following them into the woods, she tried to recall where a good spot would be to stun Kiba. First she would have to get rid of Akamaru. Taking control of a squirrel she sensed above her, she sent it down its tree and right in the duo’s path. Akamaru tensed, then sprang after it, barking frantically. “Akamaru, leave the poor thing alone,” called Kiba, smiling. His dog chose not to listen and chased the squirrel deeper into the woods.

Making the hand symbols, Ino slinked up behind him, taking care to stay downwind and not to step on any loose debris on the ground. Even in winter, a snow-saturated twig will snap if stepped on, as Ino learned when she was on a Genin mission with Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru, and Chouji. It had startled the cat they were chasing, and her teammates had given her dirty looks as they ran after it. _I’ll have to make this fast,_ she thought. She put her hands on his back and muttered, “Sleep.”

He crumpled and, moving quickly, Ino hauled him onto her shoulder and leaped into the tree canopy. Climbing as far as she could before the branches couldn’t hold their weight, she stopped, prayed that Akamaru wouldn’t come while she was inside his mind, and slipped into his conscious.

To Ino’s surprise, Kiba had few mind defenses. It only took a second to disarm them, and she sorted through his memories much faster than she did the previous ones. He didn’t spend much time in the presence of Hokage-sama, so he didn’t have much opportunity to overhear any vital plans for Konoha, which meant Ino had fewer memories to go through. “Okay, Kiba, you’re clean,” she said when she finished. “Sorry about this.” It didn’t stop her from picking things up from his memories, things that she really didn’t need to know, like how he was still deathly afraid of the armadillos he had run across while visiting Suna for a mission. But before she could leave, she returned to a memory section she had passed by earlier. This was a memory from within the past few years, and it had something to do with her. She couldn’t resist. She opened it.

The now-familiar scene of the Hokage’s office came into focus. Hokage-sama was briefing Kiba and his three Genin on the escort mission to River Country. The Genin were excited, and Kiba hid a yawn. As a Jounin, that sort of mission was probably boring to him, but his Genin had no experience. Most likely the hardest mission they had been given was looking after people’s lawns or catching runaway animals. Loud, hurried footsteps reached Ino’s ears, and she could tell Kiba heard them too by the way he tilted his head so one eye could see the door. A couple seconds later, that door burst open, and an angry Shikamaru stormed in. “Hokage-sama, please give me the mission,” he demanded, walking right up to her desk and leaning over her.

Tsunade-sama didn’t even flinch. “I’m in the middle of briefing Team Three,” she informed him.

“Give me the mission,” he repeated. Behind him, the Genin looked at each other in confusion. Surely this genius Jounin didn’t want their C-ranked escort mission. Ino was confused too. _Shikamaru, not just asking, but demanding a mission? I never thought I’d see the day._

“It’s too late,” Tsunade-sama said coolly. “Shizune is already gone.”

“Then send me as back-up!” He slammed his fists onto the desk, scattering several papers. “I can catch up to her.”

Hokage-sama shook her head. “I can’t do that. You have a team to look after.”

Whatever drove Shikamaru to demand the mission left him at that point. He sank to his knees, his fists still on the desk, his head bowed. “Please, Hokage-sama,” he pleaded. “Please let me go after her.”

Tsunade-sama’s brown eyes held sympathy. Behind them the Genin were looking at Kiba for an explanation of the breakdown happening in front of them, but all Kiba could do was shrug. He looked as nonplussed as Ino felt. “Shikamaru,” said the Godaime, “Shizune will find Ino’s murderers and bring them to justice. Have faith in her.”

As much as Ino wanted to watch more, she let the memory go. _I thought he would’ve been a little glad to not have me around anymore, seeing how weak and troublesome I was._ His actions shown through the memories of others unnerved her. Those were not the actions of the Shikamaru she knew. Even after all these years, she kept her feelings of anger strong because of his words about how weak he thought she was, but watching him like that started to cool those feelings from raging infernos to wildfires. But it worried her that he acted so unlike himself. The seed of doubt that Tenten and Neji’s memories planted inside her mind sprouted a little, and it wasn’t a huge jump to see him asking for a mission that took him outside Konoha so he could make a report to the enemy. Not that she thought Shikamaru would do something like that, but…the thought was there.

Returning to her body, she glanced down and saw an off-white pelt around the base of the tree. She also saw two figures sitting next to the pelt. “Kurogane? Fye?” she asked, leaping down with the still-sleeping Kiba. “What are you doing here?”

“Covering you,” Kurogane responded shortly.

Fye elaborated for her. “Kuro-tan thought that you might need some help when we saw this large dog running in the direction you had taken. While he distracted him, I was able to take care of him.”

“Take care of…you killed Akamaru?!” Ino was horrified. _How will Kiba take this? They were partners._

“No, no, no, I just made him sleep,” Fye reassured her. “He’ll have symptoms of mild poisoning for a few days, but he’ll be fine afterward.”

The black-haired shinobi took Kiba from Ino and started walking away. “You won’t want to wake him up right here,” he said. “Let him find the dog on his own.”

Her back-up team walked with her a ways out, then Kurogane dumped the unconscious shinobi on the ground. “We’ll see you back at the inn,” he said.

“Thank you,” she called to their retreating backs. Undoing her previous jutsu, she watched the still-groggy Kiba stagger in the direction where Akamaru lay. All hints of drowsiness disappeared when Kiba saw his partner lying in the snow. “Akamaru!” he cried, rushing to his dog’s side. “Akamaru, what’s wrong?”

Hearing his master’s voice, Akamaru struggled to wake himself up. He whimpered and stood after a few false starts. “Let’s get you home so you can rest,” said Kiba, patting his shoulder and standing by his side, ready to steady his partner. The poor dog was weaving like a drunken sailor, and without Kiba by his side, he would have careened right into the tree trunks around him. She could hear Kiba encouraging him to keep walking and saying how much better Akamaru would feel once they got him home so his sister could look at him.

She puzzled over Shikamaru’s actions all the way to the inn. His behavior was strange, and she didn’t like what that meant. Any out-of-the-ordinary behavior she had to view with suspicion, even if it was just about her dying. As she reached for her room key, she made the decision about who her next target would be. She dreaded searching the mind of her former teammates, but she had a sinking suspicion that Shikamaru was the one she wanted. However, there was one more person she wanted to check before him, and who would know Shikamaru better than Chouji? All she had to do was find him.

~*~


	8. Chapter 8

Ino’s big-boned friend proved to be more elusive than she had imagined. Since she wasn’t supposed to know him, she couldn’t go around asking people for his whereabouts. The best she could do was wander around the roads of Konoha after she was done performing or working and hope for the best. And it wasn’t a complete waste of time. She knocked out a few more suspects from the list even though she only had one target in mind. Shino proved to be more problematic than she had anticipated, and she had to do some memory modification afterward, but even his name was cleared.

Her main area of concentration was around Yakiniku Q. Chouji loved his barbeque, and it would only be a matter of time before he showed up there again. To explain her presence around there, she invited Shin, Kagura, Asahi, and Asahi’s husband to eat there with her. While they chatted and sampled the food, Ino kept her eyes on the door. She couldn’t act now, not surrounded by her friends and Sayo, but if he came in, she would know that he was in Konoha, and he would come here again.

She didn’t see him that night, but after a few days of patience, she was rewarded with the sight of him and his three Genin entering the establishment. He looked the same as ever, excited about going to eat his favorite food in the world. The three small Genin ran around him while he looked on with a paternal smile. Ino remembered seeing a similar expression on Asuma-sensei’s face when she, Shikamaru, and Chouji had been Genin. Smiling to herself, she loitered a few more minutes at a grocery stand, then followed them into Yakiniku Q.

It wasn’t hard to spot Chouji. Anyone from the Akimichi clan was quite difficult to miss due to the massive size of the clansmen. Even the women were…larger…than the average person, but no one without a death wish would mention such a fact. The men were sensitive to comments about their weight, but the women were much, much worse. As she made her way over, she reviewed the story she formulated for their meeting. It should pass muster. “Excuse me,” she said, “are you acquainted with a man named Nara Shikamaru?”

The man looked up at her. “Yes, I am,” he responded, worry coming into his eyes. “Is something wrong with him?”

_No one’s acting like they should,_ thought Ino, hiding her concern at his response. _Has he been sick recently?_ “I don’t think so,” Ino answered. “I just have a few questions about him.”

Chouji gestured for her to sit down and she took the seat across from him. The Genin gave her one glance and ignored her in favor of arguing over which item on the menu tasted the best. She paused, as though in hesitation, before asking, “Is he a stalker?”

The big man blinked. “Shikamaru?” He gave a belly-laugh and once he caught his breath, he replied, “That would be too troublesome for him.”

“Well, I’ve noticed that he’s been paying attention to a sick friend of mine at the hospital, but when I asked him if he knew her family, he said no. This is not proper behavior.”

Chouji grew serious as she spoke. “Is your friend the blond woman from that visiting performance troupe?” She nodded, and he sighed. “Have you asked anyone about this?”

“I’ve asked why people act so strange around her, and they told me that she looks like a woman who died years ago.”

“She was on our Genin team, mine and Shikamaru’s. It hit us all hard when she died, but it affected Shikamaru more than most. He has a strong sense of responsibility, and he felt like he let her down.” Chouji looked upset thinking about all this again, and Ino felt a stab of remorse for bringing these things up again. Obviously her friend still mourned for her.

Chouji continued talking. “He told me about your friend, and I went to see her myself. He was right; she’s the spitting image of Ino if she were still alive. Somehow he got the idea that he can atone for letting her die by watching over your friend. He even told Hokage-sama that he would pay the medical bill.”

Ino gasped. She remembered Misao telling her that someone had paid for Mika’s medical treatment, but no one would say who did it. “That’s ridiculous,” she declared. “It’s bound to be expensive, and she can’t stand the sight of him. It’s nothing he did,” she assured Chouji as he started to open his mouth to defend his best friend. “Her husband remarried, and Nara-san looks similar to him. We can’t have any reminders of him around her. That’s why I am asking you this. I don’t think it would be good if she happened to see him hovering around her room like he has been.”

“Believe me, he’s heard the same argument from others, not just me.” He shook his head. “Even Hokage-sama told him he was foolish to waste his money like this, but he did it anyway. I hate seeing him like this!” he burst out, startling the Genin. “Ever since she’s shown up, it’s all he talks about. How similar she is to Ino, how this is his chance to make things better. I mean no offense against your friend, but this isn’t good for him, either. He’s just punishing himself.”

Being careful to judge her words since the Genin were now listening with interest, she spoke. “No one recalls him being closer than normal to this Ino person,” she started. “Why is it affecting him to such an extent? Even with a strong sense of responsibility, it’s been years since it happened. I mean him no disrespect, but I worry about Mika’s mental health.”

Chouji opened his mouth to answer, but then he noticed his Genin hanging onto their every word. “Meet me here,” he said, scribbling on a piece of paper and handing it to her. “We’ll talk more later.” Looking at his students, he said, “Since you’re more interested in listening than eating, I take it you’re ready to go out and train some more.”

“No, Chouji-sensei!” they exclaimed, finding their food the most important thing at the moment.

He and Ino chuckled at their reaction, and Ino stood. “I’m sorry to bother you like this,” she said while pulling her hair out of Sayo’s reach.

His smile still held hints of sadness. “You didn’t bother me,” he replied. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

Her aim achieved, Ino wandered out of the barbeque restaurant, but she wasn’t any closer to figuring out whether Shikamaru was covering for something or else he cared more for her than she had thought. If the bug was Shikamaru, then they were in a world of trouble. Being the head strategist of Konoha, he was privy to most, if not all, plans that the Hokage made. Stored in his photographic memory were the plans for Konoha’s defenses, who was stationed where, where the evacuation routes were. If anyone would make an ideal informant, it would be Shikamaru. Ino’s heart sank. The facts were pointing more and more to her childhood friend. The only thing that didn’t match was his innate laziness. Being a double-agent required lots of energy, and he never had been one to expend more energy than necessary to get a job done. However, Kiba’s memory of him storming into Hokage-sama’s office and demanding Shizune’s mission smacked that argument right out of the water.

She didn’t have long to wait for Chouji, so she didn’t have time to find someone to watch Sayo for her. Once again, she would have to improvise. The still air kept the wind chill down, but it was still cold enough that Ino worried about Sayo getting hypothermia. She was still a child, after all. A set of swings came into view, and Sayo pointed to them. “Swings?” she asked. “Swings please?”

“You want to go on the swings right now?” she asked even though she already knew the answer. Her child clapped her hands and squealed in delight as they walked closer. “Okay then,” laughed the kunoichi, putting her in the low swing and giving her a gentle push. Watching Sayo’s innocence relaxed her. _I want her to keep this for as long as possible,_ she thought, pushing the child again. _Even if she stays here with me, I don’t think I’ll put her in the Academy. Her life has already seen enough death._ She frowned, lost in thought. _Is this how my mother felt when my father enrolled me in the Academy? I know she never approved of me becoming a kunoichi, but at the time I thought she wanted me to be like her instead of Dad._

Behind her came the sounds of stealthy feet. No matter how hard he tried, Chouji was too large to sneak up on someone, and it didn’t help that his armor clanked with his every movement. “I’m sorry about earlier,” he said, walking to her side.

“Don’t worry about it,” she answered. “I was the one who walked up to you while you were eating, and I was a complete stranger.” She paused. “Now that I think about it, I didn’t introduce myself, did I? I’m Hikari.”

Taking her outstretched hand, he said, “I am Akimichi Chouji.” His smile faded, and his face grew serious. “I feel like I should explain a little more about Shikamaru,” he started. “It isn’t like him to stay fixated on something, especially like this. He tried to forget about your friend, but…” He shrugged. “I don’t even know how to help him. He’s refused two missions so far so he could keep an eye on her.”

Ino stopped him. “He didn’t take missions so he could watch her?” she asked. Her hands still pushed Sayo in the swing, but her attention was all on him.

“I’m sure he didn’t say that to Hokage-sama, but later he told me that’s why.” He looked down. “He’s a changed man since Ino died, and ever since he saw your friend, he’s become almost obsessed.”

“But he was not like this before?”

Chouji shook his head. “Not at all. At first, when Ino died, he couldn’t stand to be in Konoha and always asked for extra missions. Hokage-sama finally had to put him on mandatory rest leave so he could recover. He calmed down and acted more like himself later, but he was apathetic even with his students. Then you all came, and he’s taken a more active interest in living, but all he focuses on is that woman. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Ino’s heart went out to her friend. He looked so dejected, unable to help his only surviving teammate. “Don’t worry,” she said, patting his arm. “He was able to pick himself up after Asuma-sensei’s death. He can do the same thing if you’re there to help him.”

It took her a second to realize Chouji was staring at her, and then she realized what she had just said. _Oh, not good._ Before her friend could recover, she quickly made the hand symbols and sent him into a ninjutsu-induced sleep. She grunted as he – and his armor – fell on top of her. “Stupid,” she muttered as she lowered him to the ground; he was too heavy for her to support. “You know better than that.” _How could I let that slip? I was so good, and in two seconds I blew my cover. I am so stupid._

Once he was on the ground, Ino created a shadow clone, a forbidden technique taught to her by Kurogane. She examined it, frowning. “This won’t do,” she said, forming hand symbols. Her shadow clone _poofed_ into a cloud of smoke, and when she could see again, Kagura stared her in the face. “Much better,” she approved, walking around the clone. “You watch Sayo,” she instructed the clone.

The clone nodded, and Ino sank into Chouji’s mind. Thanks to his training with Ino as a Genin, he had a more-developed defense system than one would expect. However, since they trained together, she knew how his mind worked and she disabled his defenses within a few minutes. She had to make this quick; she could feel his consciousness struggling against the sleep technique she used, and it would be bad news if he woke up and found her in his mind. There was no hiding who she was in here, especially from one who had trained with her for years. While she searched through his memories, she also kept part of her attention on the state of his consciousness, and the longer it took, the more nervous she became. “Okay, he’s clean,” she declared when she finished with the last one. “Time to do some memory modification.” Just as she reached for the memory of her slip-up, another memory jumped up and enveloped her.

Unlike the other memories she looked at in detail, this one was when she and Chouji were both still Chuunin. The scene was the area near the Hokage tower.  With his ever-present chips in hand, Chouji meandered toward the tower, but he had a purpose for being there. Judging from his face, Ino guessed he didn’t want to do whatever it was he came here to do. The afternoon sun beat down on his head, and he wiped sweat from his brow with his large hand.

Down the steps of the tower came Shikamaru, and she saw Chouji steel his resolve. _So he’s going to give some news to him that he isn’t going to like,_ she thought. Even though his steps didn’t falter, she noticed his body was trembling, and his mouth was set in a thin line. “Shikamaru,” he called. Observing the tension in his body, Ino was surprised that his voice didn’t shake.

The tired Jounin looked at him. His black eyes made the circles under his eyes darker, and it took a minute to focus on his large friend. He must have just returned from a mission; his clothes had grass and dirt stains, and he only looked that bad when he was out on a mission. In his travel pack it shocked Ino to see, peeking out of an open zipper, the blanket she had gotten him all those years ago. _That’s the blanket on his bed,_ she thought. _Why would he go through the trouble of taking it off the bed to take it on a mission? That’s too much work for someone like him._ When Shikamaru realized who called to him, he gave his friend a half-hearted wave. “Chouji, I didn’t know you were back,” he said. Even his voice was tired.

“Hard mission?” Chouji asked sympathetically. He was stalling for time.

The shadow user sighed. “Not hard. Just…time consuming. I’m ready to go to bed and sleep away the rest of the week.” He started walking, and Chouji fell in step with him. “Got any plans, or are you going on a mission?”

“I have some leave time, so I was going to go train with my father.” He gulped. Anyone watching would have known that this was a man who did not want to tell whatever it was to his friend, but Shikamaru was too fatigued to notice. However, Chouji was bound and determined to get the message across, no matter how painful it might be. “Shikamaru, I have to tell you something.”

“Yeah, go ahead.” He looked at Chouji and stopped. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Did you eat something bad?”

“No, it’s not that.” Sweat dripped down his armor. “While you were gone, Ino picked up a mission.”

“So?” His expression didn’t change.

“Well, they brought her back last week. The mission didn’t end well, and they managed to put Ino back together, but…” He had to stop talking to restrain the Nara, who seemed to have found a new reservoir of energy from somewhere. “She’s fine, Shikamaru,” he said, struggling to hold his friend in place. “Hokage-sama and Sakura say that she’ll recover the full use of her legs and arm.”

“Troublesome woman,” snapped Shikamaru as he strained to get free of Chouji. “What happened? What kind of mission was it?”

“She didn’t tell me. Shikamaru, if you think I’m going to let you see her just to start a fight, then be prepared to be sat on. She needs rest, not a lecture.” Shikamaru gave one last attempt, then sagged against his friend. The armored man patted his back. “You worry too much about her,” he told the thinner man. “You can’t protect her from everything. Goodness knows her parents tried.”

“I know if I see her, I’ll start a fight,” Shikamaru muttered, “but I can’t help it. I should’ve been there for her.”

“You and me both, buddy.” Now that Shikamaru was under control of himself again, Chouji let him go. “But we were both away on missions when she got hers, and we can’t coddle her. You know she’d never stand for that.” Ino nodded; her teammate knew her well. “Why don’t you just drop in when she’s not awake? That way you can watch over her like the mother hen you are and you won’t start a fight.” The dark-haired man still looked uncertain. “Tsunade-sama said that she needs sleep more than anything, so it shouldn’t be hard to drop by when she’s unconscious.”

Shikamaru hesitated, then nodded. “Troublesome woman,” he repeated. “If she would just listen instead of argue, this wouldn’t be so difficult.”

As the memory started fading, Ino expected to go back to the same kitchen area where Chouji kept his other memories, but instead this one faded into yet another memory. This time she knew it was the time after Hokage-sama announced her death because Chouji stood next to a grave marker with her name on it. The moon shed its bright light over the cemetery, illuminating the names of the fallen. Chouji’s tears broke her heart; she hated seeing her teammates sad. His brown mop of hair sat alone amid the tombstones, his quiet sobs the only sound aside from the chirping of crickets or the occasional slithering of snakes’ dry scales scraping against the stones.

Ino watched this heartbreaking scene until Chouji composed himself and, leaving a bouquet of flowers from her parents’ shop at the foot of the tombstone, stumbled out of the cemetery. Following him, the blue-eyed kunoichi saw him pause outside the bar that their fathers liked to frequent and do a double-take. She navigated her way to a position where she could see what he saw and did a double-take herself. _What’s Shikamaru doing here, and alone?_

None of their fathers were there, but in a booth away from the main traffic of the bar sat the shadow user. Instead of his Jounin vest, he wore only a plain fishnet shirt and his chin rested in one hand. The other hand held a bottle of sake. Using Chouji’s knowledge of their friend’s drinking habits, Ino knew that Shikamaru was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, and the man avoided it like the plague ever since Naruto and Kiba got him so smashed that he somehow ended up at the Hyuuga compound and tried to serenade Hinata, so it came as a surprise to both of them to find him there. He was clearly intoxicated, and he already had three empty bottles sitting on the table in front of him. With a look of concern, Chouji entered the bar and made his way to where Shikamaru sat. The Nara didn’t even blink when he sat down across from him, instead taking another swig of his drink, not bothering to use the small cup next to him. It wasn’t visible outside because of the smoky air inside the bar, but tears leaked from Shikamaru’s eyes. Just watching the two of them caused Ino to tear up. “Shikamaru,” started Chouji.

The man didn’t respond, taking another long swig. “I think you’ve had enough,” Chouji said, reaching for the sake.

Shikamaru moved his hand away from him. “Leave me alone,” he slurred. Oh yes, he was drunk. Her poor teammate was going to have one heck of a hangover in the morning. Setting the bottle on the table with enough force to crack the delicate container, his bleary eyes locked with Chouji’s watery ones. “I was going to ask her to leave this life,” he said, almost sounding rational. “At least to consider it. Every time she went out on a mission without me, I worried until she came back. When she got hurt, it killed me because I could have prevented it if I’d been there with her. When it happens while I’m there, I want to die for letting her down, for not keeping her safe. I even asked Tsunade-sama to give her easy missions, for all the good that did.” He looked down at the sake in his hand. “I loved her, Chouji.” His voice shook. “I would’ve spent the rest of my life working if it meant that she wouldn’t be in danger.” He buried his head in his arms and sobbed like only a drunken Shikamaru was capable of.

Patting his back, Chouji murmured, “I know, buddy. I know.”

Tears blocked Ino’s view as the memory faded. “I had no idea,” she whispered. “He never said anything.”

Because of her distress, she didn’t realize that her sleep jutsu had come undone and Chouji’s consciousness hurdled towards her. Before she knew what had happened, she felt something ram into her, and she curled into a ball to minimize impact damage. Landing in a defensive position, she looked around, ready for another attack. Instead, she saw Chouji’s conscious take form and step toward her. “Ino?” he said. His face was one of disbelief, and she didn’t blame him; she was supposed to be dead, after all.

She straightened but didn’t approach him. “Hi, Chouji,” she answered. “You weren’t supposed to do that.”

“Why are you here? Did someone revive you with a forbidden jutsu?”

Like she would know that if it was true. She shook her head. “No, but you weren’t supposed to know about me.”

He wasn’t skilled in mind jutsu like she was, so he couldn’t glean information from her consciousness like she could from his. She considered lying to him and just manipulating his memories later, but she had just checked his memories, and he was not the informant she was looking for. In fact, he just provided information that may pull Shikamaru out of the frying pan. If she trusted him with her mission, then she wouldn’t have to work alone, and who better to work with than a former teammate?

While she debated what to do, he stepped closer. “I’m having a hard time believing this,” he said, studying her. “You died nearly four years ago. I saw the body.”

She reached her decision. “I saw, too. They did a good job.” Smiling, she offered him her hand. “I’ll explain once we wake up. I can’t leave Sayo alone with a shadow clone for too long. She’s still just a baby.”

Before he could reply, she withdrew from his mind. The first thing she did in her body was dismiss the Kagura clone and lift Sayo out of the swing. The poor child was shivering and she clung to Ino to absorb her heat. “I’m sorry,” she cooed, rocking her child back and forth. “I won’t do that to you again, Sayo.”

Behind her, she heard Chouji heave himself off the ground. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “I hope I wasn’t too rough on you.”

He blinked at her and shook his head. “I have so many questions,” he muttered.

“And I would love to answer them, but not out here,” stated Ino, her voice firm. “Maybe we should go to your place. Is it secure?”

“If it isn’t, then I don’t know what is. Follow me.”

The entire way Ino worried about Chouji. She could see his mind whirling, and she knew that he was still trying to determine whether or not this was a trick. It wasn’t fair to him to find out in that manner, but then again, she hadn’t meant for him to find out at all until her mission was complete. No words passed between them, but it wasn’t a camaraderie silence; the awkwardness could be cut with a knife. It was something akin to catching someone with his or her pants down; she had gone through his memories, and he had no secrets from her now, which caused him embarrassment, and she had been caught while going through his memories, which caused her embarrassment. She had no way of hiding what she had been doing. Never before had Ino gone through her friends’ memories except for training, and they had known what to expect, and she had known to hold back from delving too deeply. This new turn of events left her feeling mortified, both for herself and for Chouji. The only good thing about this was it kept her from thinking about this new twist from Shikamaru. She was just not ready to examine that yet.

The silence remained even after they arrived at his apartment door. They sat across from each other in his living room after Chouji started up the fireplace, he on the sofa and she on one of the love seats, Sayo still cuddled next to her chest. No one moved; they only sat, looking at each other. She noticed his fingers moving, but she didn’t look down at them and her skin tingled as an illusion-breaker washed over her. Of course, since she wasn’t using an illusion to disguise herself, it didn’t do anything. He must have cast it over Sayo also because the child twitched and gave him a reproachful look. “I’m doing this the old-fashioned way,” Ino told him. “No illusions for me.”

He had the grace to look guilty, and Ino used this as an ice-breaker. “I didn’t mean to cause everyone to hurt this much,” she started. Sayo started to fidget, so she placed the worn bunny in Sayo’s arms to entertain the child. She gave him a brief synopsis of her mission, and Chouji listened without saying a word. At the end of her speech, he sat looking at his hands. “So you’ve been on this mission for almost four years,” he said, as though trying to wrap his mind around the new information. “And now you’ve come back to Konoha to find out who this informant is.”

She nodded. “I have the list, and most of the names are good, but I still have more to go.”

Looking up at her again, he asked, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you are not the informant, and if this is too much for you, I’ll erase this conversation from your memory. That’s what I was planning on doing, but it’s getting harder to get close to the targets I need to check. If you’ll help me, I would welcome the help. Of course,” she added, seeing him hesitate, “I understand if you can’t. You have your Genin to worry about, and this is for my Jounin exam. It’s too dangerous for Genin just out of the Academy to get tangled up in.”

“I’m not worried about that,” he assured her. “It’s not a question of whether or not I’ll help. What kind of teammate would I be not to help you?” He frowned. “I know you saw how Shikamaru was after you died. I don’t know how he’ll take it when he finds out you’re still alive.”

“He won’t find out until the mission is over.”

Her large friend blinked. “We aren’t going to tell him?”

From the look on his face, he must have assumed that if Ino was asking for his help, she would also include Shikamaru. That was not what Ino was planning at all. “I haven’t checked him yet,” she said, putting Sayo on the floor. The child sat by Ino’s feet, playing with her stuffed animal. “His name is on the list, so he could be the bug.”

“This is Shikamaru we’re talking about,” protested Chouji. “He would never betray Konoha. Even if you don’t believe he is loyal, you know how lazy he is. Being an informant is too risky and too much work for someone like him. How could you even think he could betray us?”

“I don’t want to believe it, but until I check him, I don’t have a choice.” Ino leaned towards Chouji, the fire burning in the fireplace reflecting in her eyes. “I’ve seen how he’s acted in other people’s memories,” she continued in a softer voice. “Yes, he is lazy, but that’s not what their memories have shown me. In fact, he started acting unlike himself after I took on this mission, asking for extra missions and doing extra work. And think, Chouji, who would make a better informant? He has access to almost every file in Konoha, and he’s our main strategist, so he knows all of the village’s defenses and weaknesses.” She realized her voice had gained a defensive edge and forced it back to a conversational tone. “I’m pretty sure that he is too loyal to go turncoat,” she said, “but until I check him out, we say nothing. Can you do that?”

Sighing, Chouji nodded. “Yes, I can. Will you tell him after you check him?”

_Not likely._ But she didn’t say that aloud. “I don’t know. I was going to do this on my own. If it makes you uncomfortable to hide this from him, I can always fall back on my original plan and cause you to forget this ever happened. Would that make this easier?”

“No!” He stood up. “I want to help you, Ino!”

“It’s Hikari now,” she corrected.

“Oh, sorry, Hikari,” he apologized, sitting back down. Glancing down at Sayo, he said, “So, I see you started your own family while you were away. She looks like you. What’s her name?”

Looking up from her rabbit, Sayo met Chouji’s gaze and smiled at him. Ino saw his heart melt, and her smile mirrored the one on Chouji’s face. “Her name is Sayo, but she’s not my daughter.”

“No?”

“She’s Mika’s daughter.” She told him about how she got Sayo, and Chouji’s eyes filled with sympathy when he looked at the little girl again. “We’re hoping that Mika will recover enough to take over Sayo’s care again, but it’s been so long already, and I’m beginning to think it’s a hopeless cause.”

Another pause descended, then Chouji returned to their earlier topic of discussion. “What should I do to help you?” he asked.

“I don’t perform tomorrow, but I handle the stalls until three, so I can look for another target after that.”

“They make you perform?”

“I can do a decent performance,” she responded tartly to his incredulity. “I’ve been in training ever since I left Konoha. I’d hope that some of that would have paid off.”

“Okay…so, after three, I’ll meet you somewhere?”

They thrashed out a plan for Chouji to bring his Genin to the troupe grounds in two days, then once the children were busy, he would meet Ino to see if she had found a target. Now that she had someone else to work on the mission with her, Ino’s heart and mind felt much lighter. She could work with one of her teammates again, and she didn’t have the burden of doing everything herself. Yes, Kurogane and Fye helped her out last time, but she couldn’t make plans with them; they had their own mission. With Chouji, she could talk about different strategies of getting a target alone and searching their minds. Because she had been gone for four years, Chouji knew better than she the weaknesses of the shinobi of Konoha, and the little she gleaned from him was more than she had to work with than before.

She could have talked to Chouji all night except Sayo started whining, and Ino realized that she needed to be fed and put to bed. “I can feed her,” offered the brown-haired shinobi, but Ino declined.

“She needs to go to bed, and we aren’t that far from the inn.” She smiled at her childhood friend. “Thank you for agreeing to help me, Chouji,” she said, showing her gratitude. “You don’t know how much this means to me.” Sayo lifted up her arms, and Ino picked her up, putting the bunny back inside the pouch by her side.

“You’re my teammate, and it’s for Konoha’s protection,” he answered. “I have no right to call myself a ninja of the Hidden Leaf if I ignore this after learning about it. Oh, In-Hikari!” he called as she opened his door.

“Yes?”

“Welcome back.”

Ino smiled and closed the door, pretending to ignore the hints of tears in her friend’s eyes. Sayo whined against her shoulder, and she patted her back. “I’ll feed you soon, baby,” she promised. “Just wait a few minutes longer.”

Not many people were out even though it wasn’t late. Ino would have thought more people would be around the park she walked through on her way back to the inn, but it too was deserted. Well, it was deserted except for the person who threw a kunai at Ino’s leg. She heard the faint whistling in the still air and dodged, landing in a defensive position with Sayo covered by the majority of her body. _Thank you, Kurogane, Misao,_ she thought as she scanned the area. Some training sessions had been mostly her dodging kunai and exploding tags thrown by the two of them, and the only way to tell where the weapons were coming from in the pitch-black night was by sound.

Three people surrounded her, and she recognized them as the Genin she saw with Shikamaru earlier. The Aburame kid, check. The girl with violet pigtails, check. The brown-haired, freckled kid, check. All three were present, and they didn’t look like they had friendly intentions toward her. In fact, the girl had a kunai out and, if Ino wasn’t mistaken, it looked like the Aburame child was preparing a Bloodline trait. She didn’t have to wonder why they targeted her because the brown-haired kid stated, “We saw what you did to Chouji-sensei.”

“What did you see?” she asked. Depending on how much they saw, she might be able to lie her way out.

The girl answered her. “You and Chouji-sensei were on the ground, but then you got up and made the red-haired lady disappear.” She narrowed her brown eyes. “You must be a renegade shinobi! You aren’t from Konoha, and you’re not wearing the hitai-ite of another Hidden Village.”

Nope, they saw too much, but that didn’t mean all was lost. “Just because I’m not wearing a hitai-ite means I’m a renegade?” she asked, straightening so she could look at them head-on. “Tell me, have you ever heard of Akatsuki?”

All three gasped. “You’re from Akatsuki?” the brown-haired boy asked. They all got into defensive positions.

She almost laughed in their faces. _They think they can take on a member of Akatsuki? They’re as arrogant as Naruto was at that age._ “No, but you must have heard of them if you reacted like that. They wear hitai-ite. Does that mean they aren’t renegade shinobi?”

“Of course they are!” the girl snorted. “Everyone knows that Akatsuki is made of renegades from various villages.”

Hiding a smile, Ino continued her interrogation. “And if you were to go on a mission where no one is supposed to know you are a shinobi, would you openly display your hitai-ite for anyone to see?”

Now the Aburame child spoke. “That would not make for a good disguise,” he said. To Ino, he sounded like Shino did when he was that age. “Only shinobi have hitai-ite.”

“So if I am a shinobi and not wearing a hitai-ite, what does that mean?”

They all shouted the conclusion Ino had led them to. “You’re on a secret mission for another Hidden Village!”

Ino made sure not to mention other possibilities, like she might be a spy or an assassin. _No reason to confuse them, though Shikamaru would have seen these possibilities at once. It’s too bad he can’t teach his genius to his students._ Not that Ino was complaining. Now that she saw the Genin relax, she gave them a secretive smile and put a finger to her lips. “You can’t tell anyone or else the mission will fail,” she told them. “Can I count on you?”

“Sure!” the brown-haired boy declared. “Maybe we can help you. My name’s Sou. That’s Kureha.” He pointed to the girl. “And that’s Tohru.” The Aburame boy nodded. “Please let us help,” he continued.

“And what about your sensei? What would you tell him if he got a mission for the three of you?”

“We could do both!” cried Kureha, her pigtails bouncing with her enthusiasm.

Chuckling at their eagerness to help in a “secret mission”, Ino said, “How about this? You three can help me by not telling anyone about this. Do you think you can do that?”

“Sure,” agreed Sou. His hitai-ite shot of rays of light reflected from the lamp posts stationed around the park. “You can count on us!”

“I’m glad to know I can rely on you. Now I have to return so I can feed my baby. Have a good night.” She left them, but she looped a small thread of chakra around Sou. She wouldn’t be able to influence anything he did, but she would be able to hear what he could hear. The Aburame kid, Tohru, didn’t appear as eager to fall in with her as his compatriots, and if they became a problem, she would need to erase their memories.

Through Sou’s ears, she heard Kureha exclaim, “Isn’t this the coolest? It’s the first time we’ve met a shinobi from another village, and she’s on a secret mission. We have to tell Shikamaru-sensei about this!”

“No, idiot!” Sou berated her. “She said not to tell anyone, not even Shikamaru-sensei.”

“Maybe we should, though.” Aburame Tohru spoke.

“Why would we do that?”

“Just because she is on a secret mission doesn’t mean that she has good intentions toward us or Konoha.” The boy’s voice was soft. “What if she’s here from a rival village and is looking for weaknesses? What if she came here to find out information about the Hokage and the other leaders here?”

“Why would she let us live if that was the case?” demanded Kureha, but her voice held uncertainty.

“It would be obvious something was up if three Genin disappeared in the middle of Konoha, and if she thought she could convince us that she didn’t mean us any harm, why go through the trouble of killing us? And that still doesn’t explain what she did to Chouji-sensei.”

“So should we tell Shikamaru-sensei?”

No one spoke and Ino held her breath. Their minds weren’t familiar to her, so she would have a hard time tracking them down if they decided to reveal something about her. She was almost to the inn, so she could leave Sayo with her roommates and hurry back to the Genin if she moved fast enough. Sometimes the child became clingy, and it would take Ino several minutes to coax her to play with Sakura and Mokona, but she could still hear her cries after exiting the inn on those days.

The one to break the silence was Sou. “I don’t think we should say anything yet,” he decided. “After all, if her mission is that important, then we shouldn’t mess it up, but we’ll still keep an eye on her. If she starts acting suspicious, then we’ll tell Shikamaru-sensei.”

“I think we’d better warn Team Eight,” added Tohru. “She did something to their sensei, so I think they have a right to know.”

“Right!”

“Right!”

When Ino felt Sou move away from them, she let her chakra thread snap and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the best outcome, but if these Genin were like what she remembered, they wouldn’t say anything to the wrong people. She just had to make sure to get to Shikamaru before they had a reason to say anything to him.


	9. Chapter 9

Between the time when Chouji found out about everything and the time they were supposed to meet, an unusual circumstance happened in Konohagakure. Some sort of miscommunication occurred in the prison and the cells of two of the criminals held there were left unguarded. The criminals took this chance to escape from bondage, in the process injuring Dr. Kyle, who had been making his routine inmate checkup at the time, and now the shinobi were on high alert. Ino couldn’t believe her bad luck. Not only was this a major setback in her plans since she couldn’t get close to any of the people remaining on the list, it made the troupe nervous and people started expressing a desire to move on to the next town. However, all of Konoha was in shut-down mode, and no one was allowed to enter or leave.

Because few people were willing to be entertained during a crisis, the troupe dismantled the large tents and started working on new routines. They had never done this while Ino traveled with them, and when she asked Shin, he said, “It’s to keep the others from being bored or scared out of their minds. We’ve never stayed anywhere for so long, and people need something new or else we’ll have trouble.”

Ino didn’t have a large part of the new routine, so she had more free time than she was used to. With Sayo in tow, she wandered around Konoha, hoping to either run into Chouji or find out something about the escaped criminals. It might have nothing to do with her mission, but then again, it might. Even if it didn’t, Konoha was her home, and it was her duty to protect it and its citizens. She doubted that the criminals would run into her or else she would have left Sayo with Fye or Kagura. As it was, Kurogane, Fye, or Syaoran and Sakura accompanied her on her ventures into the village. No one wanted to let her wander around by herself with just Sayo. Shin would have gone with her, but he had to practice for the new show.

By pure chance she saw Hinata alone on one of her walks around Konoha. “Are you busy?” she asked, walking up to her. Kurogane shadowed her steps.

The indigo-haired kunoichi gave them a tight smile when she saw them. “It isn’t safe to wander around here, Ishigawa-san, Kurogane-san,” Hinata admonished them. “The criminals could be anywhere.”

“Can you tell us anything about them? What did they do?”

Hinata glanced around. “They are renegade shinobi we believe to be from the Hidden Mist Village. One was a professional poisoner, but he started selling his services indiscriminately, and he poisoned a politically powerful person. Another started preying on the chakra of kunoichi from their village, then he left when they branded him an outcast. Ever since then, he’s attacked other kunoichi for their chakra.”

“He won’t attack male ninja?” Ino had never heard of anyone doing that before.

Hinata shook her head. “He only goes after kunoichi.” Worry shone in her eyes. “He took one of my students. I have to find him before he hurts her.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Ino murmured. She didn’t know how the other kunoichi felt, but it was probably something akin to how she would feel if someone stole Sayo.

Behind her, she felt Kurogane get his sword ready. “Someone’s watching,” he muttered.

Without Kurogane, the two kunoichi would have had no warning at all. An explosion of smoke caught them off-guard, and Ino couldn’t even see Sayo in her arms within a few seconds, though she could hear her wails of unhappiness. “Kurogane? Hyuuga-san? Where are you?” she shouted. Kneeling, she looked around, hoping to see something. She felt something trip over her, and a muttered curse from a male voice followed. It wasn’t Kurogane’s voice. Getting out a kunai, she took a guess at where he fell and threw the kunai where his thigh should be. A louder curse greeted her ears, and she smiled in satisfaction. _That’s for interrupting my mission,_ she thought.

The smoke started to clear and she saw blood on the ground. “Got him,” she said to herself. Even if she didn’t hit a vital spot, the injury would slow him down. Through the thinner smoke, she saw Hinata on the ground a good distance away, and she appeared to be unconscious. “Hyuuga-san!” she hissed, scurrying over to her. Blood ran down her face and her breathing was shallow.

A shadow fell over the two of them, and when she looked behind her, she saw a deranged-looking man standing right at her back. In his hand rested a kunai. As he lifted it, Ino threw herself over Hinata, covering the woman and Sayo at the same time. The clash of metal on metal came from behind, and when she spared a glance backward, she saw Kurogane between them and the man. The deranged man leaped backward, and Kurogane put away his kunai and drew his sword. They looked at each other without moving for a few seconds, assessing each other’s strength. Without warning, Kurogane rushed him, but the man danced away before retaliating with an attack of his own. With an almost careless grace Kurogane deflected the blow and sliced open the man’s shirt as he lunged past the red-eyed shinobi. From the gasp of pain and the sudden darkening around the edges of the cut, Kurogane had done more than just cut the shirt.

A moan from below Ino caused her to look away from the fight and to the injured ninja before her. _It looks like a concussion,_ Ino thought, moving Sayo to her hip to free one hand. Putting her hand next to Hinata’s head, she called up her medic-nin training to heal her friend. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t hear the warning shout and, in a burst of pain, her world went black.

When she awoke, the first thing she noticed was she was bound. Her hands and feet were tied and her arms were restricted by the rope around her waist. Her head hurt worse than if someone had broken her mind jutsu, and it made collecting her thoughts difficult. The second thing she noticed was Sayo wasn’t with her. “Sayo?” she muttered, forcing her eyes to open and focus. “Sayo?”

A cave of some sort greeted her eyes. Snow fell down over the entrance, but torches lit the inside of the dank cavern. The deranged man stood by the entrance, and he looked back when she started to stir. “You’re awake,” he said in a deadpan voice.

“Where is Sayo? What did you do with her?” Ino demanded, her body going cold, and not from the chill in the air.

His fist smashed into the side of her head, and Ino gasped in pain as lights exploded in front of her eyes. Gripping her hair, he pulled her head up so they were eye to eye. “You are useless,” he told her. “Less than useless.” His breath reminded Ino of a garbage disposal. “You aren’t a kunoichi, so you don’t have enough chakra to harvest. Make too much trouble, and I’ll kill you.” He let go of her hair, and Ino fell back to the floor while thanking Kurogane for teaching her to mask her chakra. He resumed his position by the entrance.

Taking stock of her surroundings, she noted that Hinata lay several feet away and she was still unconscious. Ino had been able to staunch most of the blood flow, but the man had attacked her before she could heal her all the way. It didn’t appear that she had awakened since the initial blow, which wasn’t a good sign. Her coloring wasn’t good from Ino’s limited perspective, and she now had additional scratches all over her body. The unconscious kunoichi was not the only other woman in the cave. Several women were in there, some only Genin fresh from the Academy, but they all had the symbol of Konohagakure somewhere on them. All except for Ino.

Another figure tramped into the cave and greeted the deranged man, though the latter didn’t appear to be as happy to see him. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. “You were supposed to lead them away from here!”

“Don’t worry so much, Todou,” drawled the new man. “I led them on a merry chase back there. They won’t be able to find us. They’re out there chasing their own tails right now.”

“Zhong Rong, you’re going to slip up again if you aren’t careful,” Todou warned. “We can’t stay together until we’re out of Fire Country. I’ll meet you back at the spot.”

“And what are you going to do with them?” Zhong Rong jerked a thumb at the kunoichi in the cave. “There’s too many of them for you to move on your own. You need my help. I’ll take a few, and it’ll ease the burden on you. Would you accept that?”

Todou’s wild eyes focused on the falling snow, and he nodded. “You could be right,” he muttered. “Make sure you take that one with you.” He pointed to where Ino lay. “She is not a kunoichi.”

“So why didn’t you kill her? She’s no good to you if you can’t take any chakra out of her, and we were told only to take what we can use.”

The deranged man gave his partner a wry grin. “Consider it a gift to you,” he replied. “I thought I sensed chakra from her, but I must have imagined it. By the time I realized she was useless, I was already here, so I kept her for you.”

“And it’s not even my birthday. You’re so thoughtful, Todou. I’ll keep that in mind once we get past the border of Fire Country.” He stepped over several kunoichi to inspect her. She made sure to keep her eyes unfocused, and she tried to ignore the feeling of disgust as he eyed her like she was a side of beef. “She’ll do,” said Zhong Rong, walking back to his partner. “Now just tell me which ones you want me to take and I’ll be on my way again.”

Unfortunately for Ino, Hinata was not chosen to make the separate journey, but she wasn’t as alone on the trip as she thought she would be. Once all the kunoichi were placed on a cart just outside the cave, Ino squirmed around until she no longer lay with her face squished to the floor and found herself looking at Kurenai-sensei’s white visage. No blood colored her cheeks and, like the rest of the kunoichi, she appeared to be unconscious. Horror filled her. _Who’s taking care of Asuka?_ she thought. She was still only a child, and now that her mother had been abducted, she had neither parent to look after her.

With snow covering everything, Ino couldn’t find a landmark that would indicate where they were, which would tell her what direction they were headed. The trees were bare, and the snow was thick enough that if she stood up, she would probably sink to her knees. The sky remained overcast, hiding the sun, and Ino had been kept disoriented for so long that she couldn’t tell how much time passed from the time of her capture. With all the snow that fell, Ino despaired of even Kiba finding them. She had no doubt that he would be put on the rescue mission; Kurenai was his sensei when he was a Genin, and Hinata was on his team. At the very least she could count on Kiba and Shino to come after them.

Zhong Rong made sure to keep all the kunoichi unconscious. Every so often he would stop his cart and inject them with something contained in an opaque syringe. Ino assumed that it must have nutrients in addition to a sedative because from the conversation she overheard, the other man, Todou, needed all of them alive. The captor allowed her to feed herself, but her hands were tied so that they had limited mobility. Even though Todou had told him that she wasn’t a kunoichi, Zhong Rong looked like he didn’t want to take any chances.

Because of the repetitive routine followed day after day, Ino didn’t count how much time passed, but she knew they were getting close to the border because the tension in Zhong Rong’s body lessened with each day, though he kept up a constant pace. Winter was still deep around them, so she didn’t notice any warming or cooling in the temperature, so she would have to wait before finding out where she was. However, one day the tension returned, and she knew something was up when the unflappable Zhong Rong kept glancing over his shoulder. Inching her way to a sitting position, she peered over the top of the cart to see what caught his attention, but all she saw were white snow drifts with the occasional tree sticking out. But something must have been out there because Zhong Rong picked up the pace again, jostling Ino around and causing several colorful bruises to form on her body.

Just like the day she met Kurogane and his group, the snow around them exploded, startling the team pulling the cart. With an oath, Zhong Rong started preparing a counter-attack, but he froze in the midst of a jutsu. His face a mask of rage and his body straining against its unseen bonds, his hands came apart, and he stood and walked down out of the cart. Ino couldn’t see who was controlling his actions, but she had worked with Shikamaru long enough to recognize his Kagemane no Jutsu. For some reason, knowing that her teammate was close by made her feel much safer. _I know he’s here for Kurenai-sensei first and foremost, but I know he’ll get us back to Konoha safe and sound._ He didn’t rescue them solely for Kurenai-sensei, but his obligation towards her stemmed from her involvement with Asuma-sensei, and while it surprised Ino at how far he would go for her, she didn’t think it was wrong. Even she and Chouji did what they could for her.

A squad of Medic-nin congregated on the cart containing the unconscious kunoichi, hiding the rest of the shinobi and Zhong Rong from Ino’s view. Instead, she watched as the medics tended to the females, using their chakra to rid their bodies of the drug that kept them in that state. One Medic-nin looked her over and, after cutting her bonds, moved on to the next kunoichi. “You are in better condition than the rest,” he told her as he moved to Kurenai-sensei. “You’ll recover naturally.”

Now that she was free, Ino itched to help out, but she couldn’t without blowing her cover, not with so many shinobi surrounding her. Some members of the rescue mission remained on her suspect list, and even without that, she wouldn’t be able to explain her actions if someone caught her. To her relief, she saw Chouji searching through the sea of shinobi. Her eyes caught his, and he barreled over, pulling her into a bear hug. “Are you hurt?” he asked, putting her down again. “Did he do anything to you?” Her friend had an uncharacteristic glint in his eye that told Ino he would commit murder if she answered positive, and justice be damned.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, doing her best to cover the bruises on her exposed wrists. “All he focused on was getting us to the border of Fire Country. Did you find Hyuuga-san and the other man?”

Chouji smiled grimly. “We found him first. You should have seen Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru. They were ready to rip him apart, and they almost did when he told us that we still didn’t have all the kunoichi. It took three other shinobi to restrain Neji from strangling him when he found the state Hinata was in. And Naruto…” He shuddered. “I don’t remember seeing him like that before. It was like it didn’t occur to him what state we would find everyone in, and he just let the other guy have it when we found him.”

That sounded like typical Naruto. The man took it personally when someone from his village was attacked. “How were you able to find the rest of us?”

“Inoichi-san was able to get the destination from that man’s mind, and Shikamaru deciphered which route he would take to get there in the shortest amount of time.”

“My…Yamanaka Inoichi is here?” she whispered.

To her relief, he shook his head. “Once we found out where the second criminal was going, he returned with the first group.” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her father; it was quite the opposite. But after the trauma she went through, all she would want to do upon seeing him would be to seek comfort from the man who protected her since birth, and this was not the time or the place for that sort of behavior.

A new voice broke into the conversation. “Did they take a special friend of yours, Chouji?”

They both turned in the direction of the voice and saw Shikamaru saunter over to them. He froze when he saw Ino. “You?” he said. She could see him trying to rationalize her presence with the information he had about the two criminals and drawing a blank.

“I was there with Hyuuga-san,” she said, keeping her eyes downcast. Looking at him reminded her of Mika’s reaction to him, and thinking of Mika reminded her of… Leaping to her feet, startling both Shikamaru and Chouji, she stumbled into Shikamaru. “Where is Sayo?” she demanded, her voice raising several octaves. “Did you find her?” Her numb hands grasped at his Jounin vest in her anxiety.

Shikamaru tried to calm her down. “I didn’t hear any reports of killings before we left,” he said, giving Chouji the deer-in-the-headlights look.

His large teammate came to his rescue. “I was there when Kurogane-san gave the report,” he said while trying to pry her hands off Shikamaru’s vest. “He had Sayo with him. Neither of them looked hurt.”

Relief flooded Ino, and she allowed herself to sink into Chouji’s arms. “Thank goodness,” she murmured, closing her eyes and sending a silent prayer of thanks to whatever power protected her child from harm. “I thought he’d done something to her.”

Shikamaru straightened his vest and glanced at Chouji. “We need to get moving. We’re close to our eastern border, and it looks like they were going to get passage on a ship, so their destination was somewhere in the eastern sea.”

Over Ino’s protests, Chouji picked her up and put her back in the cart with the rest of the rescued kunoichi while he and Shikamaru moved away, their voices growing fainter as they left. All around her, she could see more signs of life from the women and girls. Some were conscious enough to sit up and look around, though their eyes had a glazed look to them. Others, like Kurenai, would twitch on occasion, but they didn’t open their eyes. Cuts had been tended to, but the bruises would take time to go away. The rescue team hadn’t brought clean clothes, so they all wore the same dirty, torn clothes they had been captured in.

Because the kunoichi weren’t well, the pace returning to Konoha was slower than Zhong Rong’s. After a few days of good food, Ino was able to keep up walking next to the cart, and Chouji made sure he was close by. Even though the shinobi around them kept an eye out for trouble, none of them expected any, and the atmosphere was relaxed, so Shikamaru, the captain of the rescue team, didn’t suggest to Ino that she should get in the cart so she would present less of a target. She knew that’s what he was thinking, but he had no reason to order her to go there, and without that order, she didn’t want to spend any more time in it than she already did. The exercise kept her warm, and she was able to talk to Chouji when she walked with him. She even got Shikamaru to talk with them at times, though she could tell he didn’t know what to make of Chouji’s fascination with her company. When he walked behind her, she could feel his dark eyes following her, his mind trying to form some connection between them. While Chouji was affectionate, that their relationship was platonic was clear to anyone who saw, she thought, which she knew confused Shikamaru even more. She knew how he thought; in his mind, she became a Puzzle, one that he was becoming more determined to figure out. If she played her cards right, she’d be able to catch him alone when they got back to Konoha, and she’d be able to check his mind without any problem.

It took Ino almost as long to fully recover from her stay with Zhong Rong as the other kunoichi. She fell asleep early and she woke up when someone told her it was time to keep moving. However, she felt stronger as her body received the nutrients and exercise it had been denied. Chouji kept pushing food on her from his personal stash, which raised quite a few eyebrows, and Ino worried that with his worrying over her every move, her work would be undone, but from the brief contact with their minds, no one’s thoughts drifted toward spy. In fact, to her surprise, most of them thought he was infatuated with her. In the group, three people knew that she wasn’t just a damsel in distress, and they watched her as closely as Shikamaru did, though their eyes held suspicion instead of Shikamaru’s confusion. Ino glanced at the three watching her. _Sou, Kureha, Tohru._ For some reason, Genin were included on the mission. Ino thought that Hokage-sama would order them to stay because this wasn’t a mission they could handle if things got ugly, but there they were. Chouji’s three were also there, and they watched her just as closely as the other Genin. They had good reason to. She could sense the love they had for their sensei, and they worried that she was using him to further herself in a scheme they weren’t aware of, and that made them…not hostile, but not welcoming. Wary would be the closest word to describe how they acted around her.

Nights were not welcome. The rescue team had brought some extra blankets with them, but they were after speed, and extra supplies would have slowed them down, so many people had to sleep right next to strangers to ensure no one went without. Chouji tried to give his to Ino, but she insisted that she didn’t mind sharing with the other kunoichi and he needed to keep warm if he didn’t want to get sick. So now she shared a blanket with Kurenai-sensei and a wide-eyed, young Genin. Even with the blanket and body heat, it took Ino a while to fall asleep once she had recovered.

It was the cold seeping into her bones that caused her to give up on sleep one night and get up. As she turned to tuck the blanket edge around the Genin, she noticed that Kurenai was missing. _No wonder I couldn’t sleep,_ she thought. _A third of the body heat was missing._ Wrapping her arms around herself, she stood up and wandered toward the nearest source of light, avoiding the sleeping shinobi around her feet. She heard voices up ahead and paused.

“She’s fine,” she heard Shikamaru say. “Your parents are looking after her.”

“How long did it take you to find out I was missing?” Kurenai asked.

“You were baking muffins, and your timer still had another five minutes to go when I got there,” he responded.

“I’m glad that Asuka wasn’t there when it happened. She would’ve been all alone in the house. She could have hurt herself, and no one would have been there to take care of her.”

The sound of bodies shifting, and Kurenai continued. “That’s not the standard blanket we get when we go on missions,” she said. “Where did you get it? It looks pretty worn.”

“Ino gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday.”

Ino was now in a position where she could see the two shinobi by the fire. Shikamaru sat with his arms around his knees, her blanket around his shoulders. His face held a lost expression, Kurenai’s a concerned one. The older woman looked like she had something she wanted to say but wasn’t sure how to start. Her dark curls fell around her shoulders, making her pale face even whiter in the firelight. The flames caused their eyes to glitter, and the changing light made it hard for Ino to pinpoint an emotion to either of them aside from reading their body posture. “Shikamaru, don’t you think it’s time you moved on,” Kurenai finally said. “I know you miss her, but nothing you do can bring her back. It’s been nearly four years and you still are obsessed with this. You need closure.”

“Shizune never found her killers,” was his response. His hands tightened around the blanket; she could see the wrinkles getting deeper around his fingers. “There can never be closure for me while they are still out there. Ino will be avenged.”

Kurenai laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Shikamaru, look at me.” When his unwilling eyes met hers, she continued, holding his gaze. “Do you think Ino would be happy knowing what you’re doing?”

“She wouldn’t notice,” he muttered.

“I think she would,” the kunoichi corrected him. “It would make her unhappy to see you like this. She wouldn’t want you to still be putting her life ahead of your own four years after her death. When she visited me, she would say that she worried about you not taking care of yourself, always putting the team ahead of yourself despite your inherently lazy nature.”

Shrugging her hand off his shoulder, he put his chin down on his arm. “Why is everyone suddenly so interested in my life?” he asked, but there was no heat in his voice. “No one mentioned anything before.”

“That was before that woman in the hospital showed up.” Kurenai’s eyes were troubled. “Ever since that troupe and the woman came to Konoha, you’ve been in a downward slide back to the way you were when Ino died, and we’re all worried about you. Chouji told me that you paid for her medical expenses.”

His lips tightened into a scowl. “I don’t buy things, so it was just building up, and she couldn’t afford to pay it, living the way she does. It doesn’t hurt anyone to do a good deed every once in a while.” His voice dropped, but Ino read his lips as well as listened. “I couldn’t just let it go. She even looks like her.” He proved Kurenai’s point, but the woman didn’t look happy with the proof.

As much as Ino wanted to remain hidden and listen to the enlightening conversation, her feet had gone numb long ago and she would get frostbite if she didn’t get them warm soon. Making enough noise that she wouldn’t startle the two, she wandered over to the fire. “Do you mind if I join you?” she asked.

Kurenai gestured for her to sit down, and she did. _I wonder if they will say anything to me since I’m close to Mika. I know I shouldn’t, but…_ Looking over hesitantly, she said, “I heard the last part of the conversation. Your friend, Chouji, told me that you offered to pay for Mika’s hospital stay, but I do not understand why. Can you explain yourself?”

The black-haired shinobi growled. “I am going to have a long talk with him about keeping his mouth shut. I just felt like helping, that’s all.”

Ino’s eyebrow rose. “You spend an enormous sum of money on someone who can’t even stand the sight of you? I wish you felt that way about me, then; I could use the extra money. When she is better, she will want to know why, and I can’t tell her why if I don’t know myself. You know she won’t be able to repay you for a long time.”

“I’m not expecting any of it back,” he answered, shifting so he was looking at the fire instead of her.

“Surely your wife objects to this.”

Kurenai snorted. “He has no wife. He’s too lazy to go looking for one.” She ruffled his hair with an affectionate hand. He glared at her without anger. If Ino were a stranger, she would think that the one Shikamaru loved was Kurenai, watching the two interact.

Ino gleaned no new information that night. When Shikamaru left to relieve one of the sentries, the two women returned to their blanket. The next day, when she and Chouji walked beside the wagon, Shikamaru joined them, but he didn’t mention the previous night’s conversation. He did send Chouji a dirty look, but he didn’t explain despite Chouji’s best efforts to find out what he did wrong. Ino laughed inside, watching her two teammates, most of her anger from four years ago gone. Even she could hold onto a grudge for only so long. Besides, they did just come to her rescue.

When Chouji stumbled into Shikamaru, sending both of them into a snowdrift, Ino joined in the laughter of those who saw the scene. Shikamaru’s face had a look of indignant shock, Chouji’s a mask of surprise. Both men’s cheeks reddened when they saw most of the team looking at them. “Are you all right?” asked Ino when they returned to their positions next to her.

“I’m fine,” huffed Shikamaru, shaking snow out of his vest and straightening it again. His black eyes shot Chouji looks that, had they been kunai, would have pinned the larger man to the wagon and turned him into a porcupine.

“I’m sorry, Shikamaru,” Chouji apologized, dusting the snow off his armor. “I didn’t expect that to happen.”

“Neither did I,” the shadow-user replied. Ino noticed he was looking away from her and everyone else in the wagon, but he couldn’t hide his scarlet ears. After that, Chouji let the matter drop, and the three of them, with the occasional interjection of Kurenai, talked of other, mundane things. Safe topics, nothing that had to do with strategies or conjectures on why the kunoichi were taken. Mostly Ino talked about her made-up life as Ishigawa Hikari, trying to pull from her memory the paper Misao had given her when she first joined the performance troupe. It was easier to talk about her life with the troupe. She avoided mention of the attacks on the troupe or Mika’s connection to the king of Water Country. As she talked, she kept an eye on Shikamaru and noted how he looked more interested when she told stories about Mika. A quick thought ran across her mind. _What if the informant in Konoha is connected to the people tracking Mika?_ She dismissed it right away. _That’s a long shot. I have enough on my hands without adding false worries to my load._

When they stopped for the night, Ino sat by a fire, watching the flames dance; Chouji snored away at her side. He should have been with his Genin team, but he had been talking to Ino and he said that he was fine, he would only rest his eyes for a few minutes, then go back to his team. As soon as he lay down, he was out like a light. Smiling down at him, she lost herself in thought. _So far I haven’t seen anything new that would make Shikamaru the informant, but I need to check him. I still haven’t checked Naruto’s team, though I don’t see how it could be Sakura. She, Naruto, and Sai are always gone, but Sai used to work for Danzo, so he’s still a possibility. At least it’s not Chouji._ Her large friend mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over. Picking up the fallen blanket, Ino placed it back on Chouji and turned her thoughts to Sayo. _I wonder how she’s doing. She’s started sleeping if Kurogane and his group are with her, but she hasn’t seen me for days. I’ll need to spend time with her when I get back, but then I’ll have to put my mission on hold. Which one is more important?_

Movement on the other side of the fire called her out of her reverie and she saw Kurenai and Shikamaru settle themselves on the log opposite hers. “Do you mind if we join you?” called Kurenai softly so she wouldn’t wake Chouji.

Ino smiled and gestured for them to stay. “Please, feel free to stay.”

She expected them to talk to each other and leave her to her thoughts, but instead Kurenai directed questions right at her. Ino thought that they’d asked enough questions last night and during the day to know Hikari’s whole life story, but Kurenai found even more questions that hadn’t been covered. Shikamaru remained quiet for the most part unless someone asked him a question. A light snow fell, coating the edges of their blankets and hair. They all looked like they had a glaze of sugar on their hair since they all had dark hair, though Ino’s was brown as opposed to the other two’s black. When she reached down to dust off the snow falling on Chouji, Kurenai asked, “How did you meet Chouji? Did he help you around Konoha when you got here?”

“Actually, I met him because of Nara-san,” Ino answered.

The other woman laughed and Shikamaru looked like he turned red, but it was hard to tell in the firelight. “What did Shikamaru have to do with anything?” chuckled Kurenai.

“I saw him standing outside Mika’s doorway when she went to the Konoha hospital and I heard that he was good friends with someone named Chouji who likes to eat at Yakiniku Q. So I got myself down to the Yakiniku Q in hopes of meeting him, and it was just my luck that I happened to run into him. I wanted to know if his friend Nara-san was a stalker and if we’d have to worry about him.”

That brought out a full-on laugh from the kunoichi, and Shikamaru’s face was definitely red now. At Ino’s side, Chouji snorted and batted at something in his dreams. “I never would have thought someone would mistake Shikamaru for a stalker,” said Kurenai, wiping tears from her eyes. She turned her head to look at the shinobi beside her. “I remember Asuma telling me that he was worried about you when he became your sensei. He said you were too lazy, and it would be too much work for you to dodge a kunai thrown your way.”

“Kurenai,” Shikamaru mumbled, looking at the fire so he wouldn’t have to look at the two women looking at him.

“Don’t worry, Shikamaru, he didn’t think that way for long,” the dark-haired woman assured him. “Later his worry was you wouldn’t have enough motivation to keep going after you graduated to Chuunin. He and your father made bets on whether or not you would get take-out every meal or go home and face your mother just so you could eat.”

“I can make food for myself,” he muttered, covering his ears to block out the women’s laughter.

“And to think someone accused you of being a stalker.” Kurenai shook her head. “No one would have seen that coming.”

“If it makes you feel better, Chouji told me there was no way you were a stalker,” said Ino, leaning forward. Shikamaru still wouldn’t look at her. “He is a loyal friend.”

“Genin – beginning ninja – tend to be loyal to their teams,” remarked Kurenai. “If one of my Genin team ever needed me, I would give my daughter to my parents and head out the door within the hour. You never lose that loyalty, not even if you’ve been gone for years and return when you’re an old grandmother.”

Ino could tell by Kurenai’s eyes that the kunoichi meant every word. At one point in time, she had felt the same. In a way, it was still true; Chouji volunteered to help her without even thinking twice about it, but Ino remembered three, almost four, years ago, on a back porch one winter night, when her teammates had said they couldn’t rely on her. They might have asked each other for help, but they would have gone to a different team before asking for Ino’s help. Ino closed her eyes and nodded; it wouldn’t do if they saw anger when she had no reason to be angry. “So once you’re put into a Genin team, you pretty much have best friends for life?” she asked once she got her voice under control.

“Exactly. Isn’t that right, Shikamaru?”

The shadow-user raised his head. “Even after,” he answered.

The two women exchanged glances over the fire. “Now is not the time to get into that again,” said Kurenai, standing. “I’m a little tired, so I’ll head out. It was nice talking to you again.” She smiled at Ino, and as she headed toward the area where the others slept, Shikamaru rose and walked over to Ino’s side of the fire and knelt by Chouji. “Hey, Chouji, you need to get up or you’ll freeze,” he murmured, shaking his friend’s shoulder.

The large man brushed his hand aside and settled back to sleep. “Come on, your Genin will be worried about you if you don’t come back,” said Shikamaru, shaking him harder. “And your sleeping roll is with them. You won’t stay warm enough with just that blanket.”

Still half asleep, he got Chouji into a sitting position, then, with the bigger man’s arm around his shoulders, they staggered off towards where the rescue shinobi slept. Even though Ino lost couldn’t see their faces, she knew that Shikamaru was muttering under his breath about how troublesome it was for a teammate to fall asleep in the wrong area and it was up to him to move the other man, and while he wouldn’t mention how heavy Chouji was, he did think that he could afford to lose a few pounds and be none the worse for it. Ino remembered seeing this scene before, and not just once, though it only happened during missions; once they returned to Konoha, Shikamaru was the one to fall asleep in random places, and it was their job to get him up. Shaking her head, she returned to her musings about who was left on her hit list, the crackle of the flames snapping in the background.

~*~

Mixed feelings filled Ino when the gates of Konohagakure rose above the trees around them, but the strongest feeling was a desire to see Sayo and make sure she was okay. The shinobi told the rescued kunoichi that they had been on the road for two weeks, and it took twice as long to return to Konoha, so the baby had been without Ino for more than a month. _I hope she was able to sleep. Everyone’s so busy, and she needs so much attention. Will she be shy or will she remember me?_

To her right, Chouji looked at her. “Glad to be back?” he asked, a slight smile on his face.

She returned the smile and nodded. “I’m worried about Sayo,” she replied. “Others can care for her, but she spent most nights with me, and she grew up with me and Mika before…” she trailed off.

Beside them, Shikamaru walked with Kurenai while talking with one of the other shinobi. “I’ll go report to Hokage-sama,” he said, and the other shinobi nodded and moved to help the kunoichi out of the wagon. Shikamaru turned around to look at his Genin, who were not-to-subtly watching Ino and Chouji. “Go home,” he addressed them. Ino noted with concern that his eyes had deeper circles than before, and she could imagine the taut muscles in his back due to stress. “You performed your mission well, and I will mention your names in the report with the rest of the shinobi.”

“We should go with you,” Sou protested while Kureha gave Ino another glance before turning her attention back to her sensei.

The black-haired man shook his head and put a hand on Sou’s. “There’s no need for more than one person to report,” he responded, giving his student a small smile. “Your time would be better spent helping these kunoichi. Maybe Chouji-sensei will take you to Yakiniku Q with his students?” He looked over at Chouji and Ino.

The large shinobi and incognito kunoichi exchanged glances. “Would you like to accompany us?” asked Chouji. Behind him Ino sensed seven pairs of eyes watching her, one Jounin and six Genin.

Shaking her head, she replied, “I would like to, but I have to check on Sayo and let my troupe know that I’m still alive. Thank you for the offer. Maybe another time.” She smiled at him and, waving good-bye to the two men, walked toward the section of Konoha where the troupe had been staying.

The sound of playing children was music to her ears compared to the constant squeaking of the wagon wheels and the neighing of horses. She smiled as she passed by a snowball fight in progress, the children hiding behind their makeshift snow forts and chucking small balls of snow at their opponents. The road had been swept clear of snow, but it would not last long if the grey clouds in the distance were any indication. Sidestepping a frozen pothole, Ino picked up her pace. _Has Sayo been eating? Is she still healthy? I know that Kagura and Shin take good care of her, but Shin is a performer, and Kagura has other duties to take care of._

When she turned a corner, she saw Naruto and Dr. Kyle, but they didn’t pay attention to her. “I told you, I don’t need an examination,” Naruto was yelling at the doctor. “I’ll heal on my own!”

“Please, Naruto, you were injured before you went on that rescue mission,” Dr. Kyle replied. He sounded concerned. “At least let me make sure that the wounds won’t become infected.”

“No, no, no, no! I’ve come back worse than this before and been fine. Now lay off!”

Ino watched the two of them disappear and smiled to herself. _So Naruto still doesn’t want to let the doctor help him._ Seeing something that hadn’t changed since she had left Konoha made her feel slightly better even though it had nothing to do with her situation. As long as Naruto still fought with Sakura’s boyfriends, then the world would be all right.

The familiar inn came into view, and right before Ino stepped onto the path leading to the front door, she found herself swooped up in the strong arms of Shin. “Hikari, I can’t believe you made it back,” he said. To Ino’s ears, his voice sounded suspiciously close to tears. “You’re really back.” She could feel his face buried in her hair, which probably hid his face and allowed him to collect himself before any passersby could realize how emotional he was. It came as no surprise how warm her body felt when he held her and how fast her heart started beating. Even without seeing him every day, the attraction hadn’t abated. He set her down, his hands still on her arms as though to support her and assure him of her existence. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” His eyes looked similar to Chouji’s when she was first rescued, and she sensed similar intentions emanating from Shin.

“I’m all right,” she assured him, bringing a hand up to cover one of his own. “I’m not a shinobi, so they weren’t interested in me. Where is Sayo?” The little girl was nowhere to be seen.

Shin used his free hand to slap himself in the head. “That’s right, you don’t know. Hikari, Mika’s gotten better. You need to see her; she’s been worried about you.”

He tugged her in the direction of the hospital, but Ino resisted, still trying to make sense of what he just told her. “What do you mean, she’s better?”

He smiled and tugged her arm again. “She’s better. I don’t know how they did it, but these Konoha doctors were able to cure whatever was wrong with her, and she can handle Sayo now.”

As they made their way to the hospital, Ino rained questions on Shin. “She was so sick, I never had much hope of her getting better. How long has she been well? Did you just leave Sayo with her? Did they say how long she has to stay at the hospital?”

He answered her questions to the best of his ability, but he wasn’t much help. They walked through the hospital to Mika’s room, passing Sakura and Shizune on the way out of her room. When they arrived, Ino almost couldn’t believe what she saw. Mika, her platinum hair down around her shoulders and flowing onto the bed, was sitting up in bed and holding Sayo while the child played with her stuffed rabbit. At Mika’s bedside sat Kagura, Moira, and Misao. They were talking with Mika, though Kagura kept a close eye on Sayo in case the child needed saving from her mother again. Sayo showed no hesitancy at being so close to her mother again, which caused Ino to wonder how long ago this miraculous healing had taken place. She hadn’t even been gone for two months.

The first person to notice Ino and Shin’s entrance was Mika. When she saw Ino, her eyes lit up, and she cried, “Hikari, you’re safe!” The other people in the room jumped up and surrounded Ino. The kunoichi smiled and assured them that she was okay, and they all migrated over to Mika’s bedside where the mother and her child still sat. Everyone was talking at once, making it hard for Ino to differentiate who said what and to respond, but they all had the same meaning, that they were glad she was back and relatively unharmed. Mika leaned back against her stacked pillows and smiled to see her surrounded on all sides.

“Hikari!”

Looking over at the bed, Ino saw Sayo with her arms raised towards her, the rabbit forgotten. She lifted the child off the bed and hugged her. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long, Sayo,” said Ino as she brushed back her bangs. “Were you okay?”

The little girl burrowed her face into Ino’s neck. “Sayo good, but no Hikari,” a small, sad voice replied. Her grip on Ino was tight, and Ino wasn’t sure if she should put Sayo down or risk suffocation. For an almost four-year-old, she had strong arms.

“I’ll try not to do that again,” Ino assured Sayo, sitting on the bed so that she could rest Sayo on her lap instead of bearing her full weight in her arms.

“Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn’t,” said Mika, leaning forward. “I know that it wasn’t your responsibility. Any of yours.” She looked over at Shin and Kagura. “It means so much to me. I don’t know how to repay you all.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shin responded for the three of them. “We’re all family here, and family looks out for each other. Even now that you’re getting better, we’ll still help. Right?”

“Right,” the other two echoed. Mika’s smile warmed Ino’s heart. It had been so long since her friend had looked like this, and she hadn’t thought to see her like this again. _Mika really didn’t deserve this turn of events,_ Ino thought. Ino couldn’t imagine what Mika had to go through since Ino had never been married, but she knew that it was worse than anything she had ever felt, even with her most serious boyfriends. After a few months, she had gotten over them, and she had never been as incapacitated as Mika; if she had been, the missions she had gone on afterward would have been complete failures and not even Asuma and her teammates could have covered her slack. An image of the drunken Shikamaru in Chouji’s mind flashed across Ino’s, but she stuffed it away to think on it at a later time. She had been too busy just surviving out in the cold to try to sort through all Shikamaru’s actions and what she was supposed to do about it, especially since it appeared that he still felt guilty about letting her die. Bringing her focus back to Mika, Ino asked, “What did these doctors do to you that no one else did? I wasn’t sure you’d ever be the same.”

Mika leaned forward, her eyes shining as she remembered. “I never thought something like this would work,” she confessed, “but Misao told me I should try it just in case. One of their regular doctors, Dr. Rondart Kyle, uses hypnotism to cure some of his patients. Someone told him that I was willing to try, so he and another person, I believe they called her Shizune, came and worked on me.” The blond woman frowned as she tried to recall what they told her. “Shizune said that Dr. Rondart would be doing the majority of the work, and she would supply the…chakra? Yes, chakra, to make the suggestions stick. Apparently hypnotism is just making suggestions to a sleeping mind, but my mind needed something stronger than just a suggestion, which is why I needed two of them.”

Misao added her own comment. “What she means to say is that while most of the doctors here are also ninja who can use chakra, Dr. Rondart cannot because he is not a ninja, hence the need for the second doctor.” While Ino had already gathered that from Mika’s description, it was only because she knew Dr. Kyle previously. Of course Dr. Kyle couldn’t use chakra; he wasn’t trained as a shinobi. But Hikari, just like the rest of the troupe, would’ve thought that everyone in a shinobi village was a shinobi, including all the doctors in the hospital. Mika’s description wasn’t enough for Hikari to follow, but Ino wouldn’t have asked her to clarify because in her head, it made sense already. Thank goodness for teachers watching out for their students!

They all stayed in Mika’s hospital room until one of the nurses told them that visiting times were over. Sayo tried to cling to Ino, but she was still recovering and unable to carry the child. Over the child’s tearful protests, Shin took her and Mika waved good-bye to them. “Come visit me soon,” she called as they walked out the door.

Misao drifted over to Ino’s side and murmured just loud enough to carry to Ino’s ears, “You should see Kurogane and his group. They’ve been worried about you.” Ino sent a startled glance at the older woman, but she had already moved forward and engaged Moira in conversation.

As they neared the inn, Kagura took the now-sleeping Sayo from Shin. “It’s my turn tonight, and Hikari doesn’t look like she should be taking care of anyone other than herself for a while,” she said when Shin tried to take her back. “You’ve had her for the past few nights, so you deserve to sleep through the night tonight.”

“I need to call my children in,” said Moira, and she and Misao wandered off in the direction of the training grounds for the troupe. It surprised Ino that Misao also left, but she had no doubt that she would be receiving a visit from the older kunoichi later that night so she could report what had happened.

Only Ino and Shin were left in front of the inn. “I need to go in and let Kurogane and the others know that I’m okay,” she said, walking forward to open the door. Shin caught her arm as she walked by, and she stopped.

“You need to let Kurogane know?” he asked. His voice sounded flat to Ino’s ears, not like the light tone he had when everyone else was here.

“I haven’t seen them yet,” replied Ino, “and it’s not right that I tell everyone but them. They should hear it from me.” He didn’t let go of her sleeve, and she couldn’t see his eyes because his head was directed at the ground.

“I know that you have been under a lot of stress, and you’ve just returned, but I have to know.” Now he looked up, his beautiful, brown eyes full of something Ino, in her tired state, couldn’t recognize. “Hikari, are you in love with Kurogane?”

Even though she had been expecting this for some time, she hadn’t expected it now, and it took her aback. She thought about the dark-haired shinobi, his cool manner of showing her new techniques, his crimson eyes judging every false start. He had a strong physique, which appealed to her, but his aura was intimidating enough that not once had Ino given thought to any romantic notions with him, though she heard from Fye that he was only a few years older than she was. Smiling, she shook her head and said, “No, there is nothing between Kurogane and me romantically. He is a valued teacher, that’s all.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he let go of her arm. A part of Ino wanted to assure him that he had nothing to worry about, but she squashed the urge. She already had to fight her own growing feelings for him, and the practical side of her knew that starting something at this stage in the game was only asking for heartbreak on both sides when her charade was over. That same side also pushed for her to tell him straight up that there could never be anything between except friendship, but her other side prevented her from taking that final step. As things stood right now, her two sides warred with each other, and both she and Shin were paying the price for it. “I’m sorry,” she murmured before slipping through the door before he could respond.

“I’m back,” she announced as she stepped through the door to her room. She didn’t want to startle them if anyone was here.

“Hikari, you’re back!” cried Mokona as it leaped into her arms. Sakura, Syaoran, and Fye were all quick to follow its example and welcomed her. She could see the genuine feelings of worry in the two younger members of the group, and Fye was as cheerful as ever. It did feel good to be back with people she could be comfortable around.

At the window, Kurogane sat watching them. He didn’t get up or say anything, but Ino noticed that the tension she saw in his shoulders and arms when she first walked into the room had relaxed, and a small smile played around his lips. Still holding Mokona, she walked over to him and said, “I made it back.”

“I see that. Good job making it back alive. Did you learn anything?”

Frowning, Ino sat down and thought back to when Zhong Rong had been driving them in the wagon. “I remember in the beginning they said that they couldn’t travel together until they were out of Fire Country,” she started. The others gathered around her. “They were supposed to meet at the ‘spot’, but I don’t know what the ‘spot’ is or where they were going afterward. I think they needed the kunoichi to harvest their chakra for a purpose, but Zhong Rong never mentioned it. I would guess that a war is going to start soon, but I’m not sure which countries will be involved.”

“This could affect even us,” Fye mused, his blue eyes on the clock on the far wall.

Ino was skeptical, but Kurogane nodded his head. “It looks like Konoha is supposed to be involved, so keep an eye out. We might even find what we are looking for.”

“What are you looking for?” asked Ino. It broke their unspoken rule of not prying into each other’s business, but they helped her with her mission already. It was only fair that she offer her help if she was able.

Sakura responded. “My memories. These people are all helping me find my memories.” The girl looked sad, like she felt guilty about them helping her. Syaoran put a hand over Sakura’s and gave her a small smile. Even if no one else would have helped Sakura, Ino had no doubt that Syaoran would have stayed by her side no matter what happened. A love like that was something she had always dreamed about ever since she became interested in boys. Unfortunately, it had never worked out that way, and as Ino grew older, she had learned to not get her hopes up too high. Still, it brought a small tingle watching it happen to someone else, giving her proof that it was possible for someone to be that devoted to someone else.

She brought her mind back to the present. Ino didn’t know how to locate a memory except in a person’s mind, but from the way Sakura answered she guessed that it wasn’t something she could help with. Amnesia wasn’t something Ino wanted to mess with, especially since the results of finding those memories sometimes messed with the memories they had made after the amnesia started. “Well, I’ll do the best I can to help you find your lost memories,” she said. She couldn’t do much at all, but if the problem persisted beyond the termination of Ino’s current mission, then she would ask Hokage-sama for an extended leave of absence and focus on helping the team that already provided her with so much help. Fair was fair, after all.

At that moment Misao joined them. Ino heard her footsteps in the hall and looked up just in time to see the doorknob turn. “Welcome back,” she called as Misao closed the door behind her.

“I just spoke with Tsunade,” said Misao, sitting down on the edge of one of the beds. “She says that she sent a shinobi team to the site where that young Nara tactician thinks they were going to meet and see if there is anything suspicious about the place. Meanwhile, Konoha is going to start mobilizing, so we won’t be able to move on for even longer.” She looked directly at Ino. “These may not be the best circumstances, but this is your opportunity to complete your mission. Don’t let it go to waste. The chances of you succeeding decreased significantly, but you already knew the odds.”

Ino rose to the challenge. “I won’t fail,” she promised, her eyes locked with her mentor’s. “I will do what I have to do to protect my village.”

“You don’t have to do everything by yourself to be considered an elite shinobi,” said Kurogane. “I have seen many of your Jounin relying on each other to complete a difficult mission. Even the shinobi of my country worked with a team to finish a mission.”

“All except for you, right, Kuro-tan?” teased Fye, poking the scowling man.

“I was the best,” Kurogane stated. Coming from him, it was a fact, not bragging. “No one could defeat me, but I do not expect everyone to be like me.”

Ino remembered her wish at Yuuko-san’s shop. _I have Chouji, and I have everyone in this room. If I work fast enough, then I’ll be able to solve the problem before war comes to Konoha. If the war comes before I find the informant, it may be too late._


	10. Chapter 10

Now that Ino had a time limit, she started working harder at locating the targets, but the most elusive one proved to be Shikamaru. He was her main target, but he had gotten himself included on the team sent to “the spot” to look for incriminating evidence, which meant he wouldn’t be in Konoha for some time. _He just got back from the rescue mission, and he’s already assigned to go on another one? What is Hokage-sama thinking? He hasn’t been getting enough rest. If he collapses, then what will we do?_ She didn’t want to think about the other reason he could have for going on the trip, but the small voice of her suppressed, suspicious side whispered, _If he’s thrown in with the other side, then he might have to do damage control and clean up the evidence before the other shinobi see it._ Unfortunately, that made more sense than Hokage-sama assigning him to the task on her own. With the work Shikamaru was putting in, there was no way that Hokage-sama would send him out again unless he specifically asked to go. And why else would he go except for damage control? Trackers like Kiba and Shino were better for finding evidence, and they weren’t so absent-minded that they would forget important details in the time it took to travel from the spot in question back to Konoha and report to Hokage-sama.

  
The older members of the troupe were becoming less happy about their forced stay in Konoha, and they were becoming more vocal about their displeasure, but the younger members and the newcomers adjusted to their new environment. Some of the children started taking lessons at the Academy, though the actual training in the ninja art was denied them. The parents were unhappy about their children not having the same experiences as the other children, but after Iruka-sensei told them that their children wouldn’t be allowed to leave Konoha if they were shinobi-trained, they calmed down. After seeing the training with the sharp kunai and exploding tags, some of them went to thank Iruka-sensei personally for keeping their children away from such dangerous objects.

  
Somehow Misao had changed the schedule enough that Ino didn’t have to perform at all in the next show, which left her with plenty of free time to do what she had to do. However, it had reached the point where only a few of her targets were in Konoha, so she spent much of her time with Mika and Sayo. Now that the woman was better, Ino took Sayo to see her mother whenever she could, and the two of them would talk. This was the Mika that Ino first met, though she seemed to still have a sad aura. It wasn’t overpowering, but it never went away, even when she smiled. Someone other than Ino had told her what Shikamaru did for her and it concerned her. “I have no way of paying him back,” she told Ino one morning. So wrapped up in her concern was Mika that she didn’t realize that she was biting her thumbnail down to her finger. “And I was so rude to him. Why would he do this?”

  
Ino didn’t have a good answer for her. “I asked around and they said you reminded him of someone in his past who isn’t here anymore. My guess is he feels guilty about something and he thinks helping you will get rid of the guilt.”

  
“That’s a ridiculous reason,” Mika scoffed. “There has to be more to it.”

  
Thinking about Shikamaru was hard. It was hard not to think of him since he was the target she was aiming for, but thinking of him brought back the memories she had seen in other people’s minds. The one that was especially hard to dwell on was Chouji’s memory of him in the bar. She had never considered her teammates as potential romantic interests and she always thought that they never saw her that way, either. When they were Chuunin, she remembered hearing about Shikamaru and Temari and she hadn’t felt anything other than surprise that the two were seeing each other. When things ended between the two, Shikamaru didn’t seem all that upset that the Sand kunoichi had decided a long-distance relationship was not what she was looking for, but it was difficult to get him worked up about anything. She had never felt any hostility from him towards her boyfriends when they were all together; he had seemed as apathetic as ever. However, in those memories, he had lost control of himself, something he hadn’t even done when Asuma died, and his actions now showed him to be obsessed with her. The implications weren’t good no matter how she looked at it. The choices were Shikamaru was the informant, he had become mentally unbalanced with her death, or he was in love with her and she never realized it. The first two were terrible news for Konoha, but the last one was bad news for Ino. How would he react when he discovered that she was still alive? And how would this affect her relationship with him? What about her relationship with Shin?

  
Chouji told her when the team returned from “the spot”. “Did they find anything?” she asked, picking up another head of snow lettuce and examining its leaves. Her heartbeat increased. _Shikamaru’s back. I need to try to get him before he leaves again. But what if he recognizes me? His mind defenses are almost as good as mine._

  
The big man next to her shrugged. “They should have just gotten back a few minutes ago. I saw them coming up the road before I came here. Shikamaru's probably reporting to Tsunade-sama right now.”

  
“I see.” She put the lettuce down and continued her perusal of the produce. On the other side of the wall, she heard Naruto describing something with occasional interjections from Syaoran and his Sakura. Sai made a comment, and the younger people’s laughter floated above Naruto’s spluttering. The words were unintelligible, but the noise made for a good cover for her and Chouji’s conversation. To their right she saw Shin and Kagura picking up a carrot bunch. Seeing Shin brought a warm glow to Ino’s insides. “Do you think he’ll head back to his apartment afterward?”

  
“Probably. He didn’t get a chance to rest after the rescue mission, so Tsunade-sama should put him on mandatory leave if necessary. She doesn’t want him to get back into that state he was in four years ago. Oh no.”

  
Ino looked up at her friend as some epiphany dawned on him. “What’s wrong, Chouji?” she asked. “You look like someone hit you from behind with a brick.”

  
“I know what he’s doing tonight.”

  
“What?”

  
“It’s the anniversary of your death. He’s going to be at the bar again with everyone else.”

  
“So he’s going to get roaring drunk again? Chouji, this is it! This is the perfect opportunity to check him.”

  
But Chouji shook his head. “All of us will be there, In– Hikari. Too many shinobi will be around him, and not all of them are lightweights like he is. Were you going to tell him you’re alive?” She shook her head, and Chouji sighed. “Then please leave him alone tonight. I’ll help you get him another time, but let him keep your memory in peace.”

  
“I’ll think about it,” Ino replied, but she knew that she needed to take this opportunity, and if Chouji wouldn’t help, then she would go in alone.

  
They parted ways, and Ino felt a pair of Genin eyes on her as she brought the groceries to the inn. Someone from Shikamaru’s team or Chouji’s team was always watching her any chance they had. She didn’t blame them, and she wasn’t too worried since she gave them the slip every time she locked onto a target. However, they were guarding Shikamaru like he was made of gold, and they were the main reason she wasn’t able to check him before now when he was in Konoha. It was an annoyance, but as long as it was just those six, she could live with the inconvenience. She gave the groceries to one of the cooks and headed over to the hospital, her little shadow tailing her. Sayo was already there, and she squealed and ran to Ino when she appeared in the doorway. “Welcome back,” called Mika from the bed.

  
“Have they let you out of that bed yet?” Ino asked as she sat down on the floor and moved the bunny for Sayo. “If you don’t exercise your muscles, you’ll have a hard time getting back into the swing of things in the troupe.” For someone as active as Mika used to be, all this laying around made muscle atrophy a very real possibility.

  
“I know,” sighed Mika, looking down at her sheet-covered legs. “I don’t know if I can even stand up, much less walk.”

  
“Then let’s work on it.” Putting Sayo and her toys near the chair against the room’s wall, Ino stood up and held out her hands to Mika. No muscle atrophy was allowed on Ino’s watch! “There’s no time like the present.”

  
The strong woman who had walked miles with the troupe while heavily pregnant couldn’t even stand without grabbing onto Ino for balance. Her limbs were stick-like; they had lost a lot of the muscle she had built up, and her legs wouldn’t support her weight. It took several tries to just stand by herself, and she was only able to take a few steps before her legs collapsed and Ino had to catch her. “You can do this,” Ino encouraged her when the other woman wanted to give up. “It just takes practice. You’ll be on your feet again in no time.”

  
Asahi came in with her husband to visit with Mika, and Ino took the opportunity to excuse herself. “Bye bye, Hikari,” Sayo said, waving a tiny hand and using her other hand to make the bunny wave too.

  
“Good bye, Sayo,” responded Ino, kissing the top of the child’s head. “Be good for Mommy, okay?”

  
The little girl giggled, and Ino let herself out. She hadn’t realized that she stayed at the hospital so late. The setting sun caused an orange halo to form over the tops of the apartment complexes, and a chill breeze blew through Ino’s thick coat. On the way back to the inn, she ran into Kurogane, who looked like he was in a black mood. “What’s wrong, Kurogane?” she asked, falling into step with him. The direction he was walking would take him to the civilian parts of Konoha soon, but Ino couldn’t think of a reason for him to be going into the civilian portion.

  
“That wizard wanted me to pick up some sake for him,” the man grumbled. “That drunk always asks me to do the heavy labor. He’s so irresponsible.”

  
Ino giggled and kept walking with him. Even though Kurogane complained, she knew that he wasn’t truly upset. She also had a sneaking suspicion that when she was talking with Chouji in the store earlier, Syaoran had somehow overheard them talking and made it known to the other two that Ino might need an excuse to go into the bar tonight. That boy continued to amaze Ino. Then again, it could just be coincidence that Fye wanted Kurogane to get him some sake. It was hard to tell with that group. After all, Fye was very fond of sake.

  
The sun had set by the time they reached the bar. On the inside, the civilian workers were carousing and making a large ruckus. The beer-stained floor and walls made this place a less-than-clean bar, but the patrons were usually too drunk to care. The dim lighting made the footing a little treacherous since fresh-spilled beer looked the same as already dried beer in the shadows, and Ino slipped several times and would have fallen if Kurogane’s quick reflexes hadn’t caught her. They made their way to the bar and while Kurogane gave the bartender the slip that Fye had given him, Ino surveyed the bar. Among the laughter and the rowdiness was an island of gloom. As she turned her eyes toward it, she saw Neji leading Hinata to the door with Tenten just behind them. The remaining people consisted of Kiba, Naruto’s team and Lee, Chouji, and Shikamaru. None of them were smiling. Sakura had tears rolling down her face and her teammates and Lee were trying to offer her comfort. Kiba looked pensive, doing more holding of his cup than drinking its contents. Chouji wasn’t drinking anything, just watching as Shikamaru took a swallow from his bottle every few minutes. From the look on Chouji’s face, Ino could tell that he wanted to tell Shikamaru about her so his friend would stop hurting, but it conflicted with his promise to not say anything until after she checked the shadow-user. Seeing Shikamaru in that state, doing his best to drink away her memory, made Ino feel terrible and she knew it had to be worse for Chouji, but she couldn’t have him knowing about her. Her first responsibility was to Konoha, and she would not jeopardize that even for her teammate.  
Chouji tried to take the bottle away from Shikamaru. “It won’t help,” he told his inebriated friend. “You’ve done this for four years now. You know it doesn’t do anything.”

  
Shikamaru moved the sake away from Chouji. “Leave it,” he said, his words already running together. In front of them sat two empty bottles, and it didn’t look like Chouji had touched either of them.

  
Looking up, Chouji locked eyes with Ino, and her resolve to corner Shikamaru fell away. She knew it had to be done, but Chouji’s eyes held a pain that she hadn’t seen in a while. It was like he knew why she was here and he was begging her to fix things. She still had her mission, though, and as much as she wanted to help, she could do nothing. Shaking her head slightly, she followed Kurogane out the door and into the frosty night. Chouji’s accusing eyes followed her all the way back.

~*~

Thinking back on that night, Ino could have kicked herself. Not only was that the perfect opportunity to catch Shikamaru with his defenses down, it was the only opportunity she received. No matter what she did, she could never catch him alone after that. He was constantly meeting with Tsunade-sama, and on the rare occasions that she saw him in Konoha, he had his students with him. They would exchange greetings, but he had to leave to train his Genin or take them on a mission, so nothing beyond a hello and good bye was said. Chouji did his best to help her, but Shikamaru was too busy to meet with him, either.

  
News spread through Konoha like wildfire, and while it gave Ino a reason to remain in Konoha, many more of the troupe members became unhappy. The countries of Water and Earth were going to war, and Fire Country was going to be the battle-ground. The king of Fire Country was furious and didn’t want to give credence to the rumors, but Shikamaru’s team had located the place where Todou and Zhong Rong were headed and it had partial plans of moving Earth Country’s soldiers to key sections of Fire Country and making it appear that Water Country had attacked the much larger country, so in retaliation Fire Country would decimate the island country. Due to the find, Konoha received the emissaries from Water Country and sided with them to fight Earth Country, which meant the troupe would be going nowhere until the war was over.

  
It was by luck that Ino happened to be walking past the Hokage’s Tower and overheard Izumo and Kotetsu talking about plans with Water Country. “We have to make sure that the royal suites are cleaned when the retinue from Water Country visits Konoha,” Kotetsu was saying. “Tsunade-sama will have our hides if there’s a speck of dust to be found anywhere.”

  
“Why the royal suites?” asked Izumo. “The ambassador doesn’t have the same rank as royalty, and it’s not like the king of Fire Country is coming.”

  
A smack and a yelp followed that statement. “You weren’t paying attention, were you?” reprimanded Kotetsu. “The king of Fire Country will be directing the troops from the capital, but the king of Water Country is coming here to coordinate his attacks with Konohagakure. He doesn’t have enough troops to attack on his own, so he is working with Hokage-sama and the shinobi here.”

  
Walking faster, Ino saw Izumo rubbing the side of his head and glaring at Kotetsu. “But that means he could be staying here for months, possibly.”

  
“Yes it does, which is why we have to end the war quickly. His country is still unstable, so he can’t afford to leave for that long. At least he’s leaving his council to guide the country while he’s here.”

  
“Brave man, to leave the running of his country to someone else.”

  
“I guess he trusts them. What I can’t believe is his wife is coming here with him.” Kotetsu shook his head. “She was raised in Lightning Country and she knows how to rule. Why didn’t she stay in Water Country? It would be safer for her there also.”

  
“It’s not for the likes of us to understand why royalty acts the way they do,” replied Izumo. “We just have to abide by their decisions as long as Hokage-sama tells us to.”

  
Ino did not like what she just heard and she stopped following them so she could head back to the troupe’s complex. _This is terrible_ , she thought, holding her coat closer as a cold breeze blew by. _The king of Water Country is Mika’s husband. She’s just getting better; what if she sees him? What if he sees her?_ The ending of each scenario brought about disaster in Ino’s mind.

  
In the distance, she recognized Shin walking from the direction of the hospital, and as she hurried closer, she saw that he had Sayo with him. “Shin!” she called, waving to get his attention.

  
He noticed her and changed direction to meet her. “What’s wrong?” he asked when she was close enough that he could see her face. She told him what she heard, and his face darkened. “She’s just starting to recover,” he muttered, echoing Ino’s earlier thoughts. “This might send her back into that depression.” They both glanced at Sayo, but she was happily occupied with her stuffed rabbit. “How can we keep this from her?”

  
Ino sighed. “I don’t think we can. People will start talking about it soon if they haven’t already. And his wife is coming with him. Short of having the troupe leave before he gets here, I think we’re stuck.”

  
Shin’s worry translated to Sayo, who looked over at him and gave him a hug. “No sad, Shin,” she said in her high voice.

  
Looking down at her, Shin smiled. “I’m okay, Sayo,” he assured her. “Let’s take you inside so you don’t freeze.”

  
“Freeze,” agreed the child, drawing her rabbit close.

  
When they arrived at the inn, Ino spotted Fye and Kurogane sitting next to the roaring fireplace in the lobby of the inn. The two of them looked serious, and they discussed something in low voices, but Ino didn’t worry. They didn’t pry into her affairs and they even helped her with her jobs without her asking for help, so she didn’t want to pry into their business unless they specifically told her about it on their own. From the brief glimpse into Fye’s mind months ago, she was convinced that they weren’t related to her mission or Earth Country at all. As she wiped snow from her shoes, she heard Sayo squeal, “Fye! Kuro-tan!”  
The two men looked up, Fye with a grin on his face and Kurogane with a grimace. “It’s Kurogane,” the dark-haired man muttered.

  
Sayo was reaching for them, and Shin allowed Fye to take the child from him. “I don’t mind watching her for a while,” the blond man told them. “You two look like you could use a break.”

  
Ino was about to say that she hadn’t had Sayo at all today, but Shin cut her off before she could speak. “Thank you,” he said. “We appreciate that.” He grabbed Ino’s wrist and led her over to his room, and Ino was surprised that none of his roommates were inside. He closed the door and started pacing like a caged animal. “Staying in one place like this isn’t good,” he said. Ino watched him from one of the chairs as he continued. “We’ve never stayed in a place this long; it makes me feel constricted. I can’t stand being trapped in one spot like this. We need to be on the road. Then we won’t have to worry about Mika running into him. It would solve all our problems. Why does the Hokage keep us here? Surely we’ve been here long enough that she doesn’t think that we have anything to do with this war.”

  
Ino felt bad for him, but as he spoke, her feelings for him were stopped short by his words. “So you could never live in one place?” she asked. She suspected this for a long time, but now she wanted and dreaded confirmation.

  
He looked at her, then continued his pacing. “My life is with the troupe,” he answered. “I’ll never be able to just stay in one place since the troupe’s always on the move.”

  
Even though he and Ino hadn’t started a romantic relationship, his words cut like a knife. “I was thinking of staying here,” she murmured, unable to look at him while she said this. His footfalls stopped, and she could feel his eyes on her. “I love the troupe, but I’m getting used to things here, and I was raised in a village. Being in one place without worrying about where I’ll be the next day is a nice feeling for me.”

  
He knelt by her so she would look at him, and she saw that all thoughts of Mika and Water Country had left his mind. He was shaking his head. “You don’t mean that,” he pleaded as he placed his hands on her knee to balance himself. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”

  
“I’m not like you.” She covered the hands on her knee with one of her own. “I’m tired of getting used to new surroundings every few months, and we’ve been here long enough that I’m used to the layout of this area. It’s not such a bad life, not being on the move all the time.”

  
“Hikari, please don’t do this.”

  
“I’m sorry, Shin. I can’t spend my whole life like this. I’m going to ask Sano to allow me to stay here when the troupe moves on. It’s not like we’ll be allowed to leave anytime soon, so it won’t make a difference.”

  
The man beside her looked at the ground and stayed silent for a while, two inner voices warring with each other inside him. When one side won over the other, he looked back up at her. Drawing in an unsteady breath, he said, “For you, I could try to live here.”

  
Apparently his love for her won over his love of his life with the troupe, but Ino shook her head. “You wouldn’t be happy here, and don’t pretend that you know I’m wrong. But we can worry about that later. Right now we have to think about what to do about Mika.”

  
In the end, neither of them could think of anything. Ino could tell that Shin only had part of his mind on the problem; the other part was focused on her decision to remain behind while he and the rest continued onward. On Ino’s part, she felt bad about telling him this, but she needed to start the separation. It was becoming too hard to keep feelings for him at bay when he was constantly trying to win her over. With this decision, he would realize that they couldn’t stay together and give up on her, she hoped. It hurt because she now reciprocated his feelings, and it got to the point where she was starting to think that maybe not becoming a Jounin would be fine if she could stay with Shin and maybe start a family. That’s part of the reason why she decided she had to tell him she was moving out, and this way she would stop becoming so distracted. She hadn’t realized that she made that decision until his talk earlier forced the words from her.

  
When she got up to leave, he grabbed her arm. “Hikari, I can stay here. You mean everything to me. Please don’t put a barrier between us.”

  
He wasn’t making this easy for her, and she was running out of things to tell him. In desperation, she said the first thing that came to her mind. “I didn’t want to hurt you, Shin, but I don’t love you. There’s someone else I’m interested in now.”

  
One look at him made her want to take back her words, but she was frozen. “What?” he said. All the blood had drained from his face.

  
Straightening her back, she forced herself to look him in the eye and use body posture to give credence to her lie. “He’s a shinobi here in Konoha and things are starting to get serious. I’m sorry.” Her arm slipped through his unresisting hold, and, after she retrieved Sayo from Fye and Kurogane, she fled to her room.

  
That night Ino had a hard time sleeping due to a guilty conscience, and in the early hours of the morning, she gave up and went for a walk to give herself something to do. The snow on the ground reflected the light from the streetlamps, but the fog made sure the air was translucent so Ino didn’t have a clear view of her surroundings. However, she sensed that no one was nearby. Setting off in a random direction, she waded through wet snow and got the bottom of her dress wet. However, her thoughts were on Shin’s disappointment. He tried to hide it, but her news devastated him. She knew what she did was for the best in the long run, but that didn’t make the stabbing pangs go away. Focus on Mika, she told herself. She was afraid for her friend’s sanity. It wasn’t too long ago that she was unable to be near Sayo, and now there might be a repeat performance. The next time they might not be so lucky.

  
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice someone coming the other way until she ran into him. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized as the unknown person steadied her.

  
“Well, if it isn’t Hikari,” Sano’s voice said. “I didn’t expect you to be up so early.”

  
Taking the opportunity presented to her, she told Sano about her thoughts on staying in Konoha. He listened without comment until she finished, and then he responded. “If you’ve already made up your mind to stay here, we can’t stop you.” He ruffled her hair with his calloused hand, then started walking away. “I’m afraid that we can’t do anything about that now, but some others have come to me and asked if they could move into some of the apartments they have here. Perhaps you would like to do this too?”

  
“Now?” asked Ino, jogging to catch up.

  
“There’s no time like the present,” he answered. “It would be a step in the right direction, don’t you think? Others are tired of being crowded and want their own space. We can’t set up our tents, but maybe the Hokage will rent us some apartments for the families.”

  
“Do you know what time it is?” Ino remembered Sakura telling her horror stories about waking up Tsunade-sama for one reason or another. It wasn’t something Ino wanted to experience firsthand.  
“It’s fine,” the troupe leader assured her. Ino wished she felt half as confident as he sounded. The streetlights made it easy to keep up with Sano, though she was constantly playing catch up because he had a longer stride and she kept getting bogged down with the snow. It didn’t seem real to Ino that Sano would just let her live in Konoha without a fight; after all, no shinobi was allowed to leave Konoha without the express permission of Hokage-sama, and it had to be a very good reason. The Hidden Villages guarded their shinobi jealously, and it surprised Ino that Hokage-sama had allowed Misao to leave Konoha. Even retired shinobi could be analyzed for bloodline traits, so retired shinobi either remained in their native villages or transferred to an allied Hidden Village.

  
No one stopped them as they ascended the steps of the Hokage Tower. She heard activity around her, but it didn’t surprise her; Konoha was preparing for a war, and the ruling family of Water Country was coming for an extended visit. _This isn’t the time to ask about this_ , she thought as they entered the hallway to Hokage-sama’s office. _She’s already busy trying to coordinate other, more important matters. She doesn’t have time to do all the necessary paperwork to find us a place to stay. She’ll say no, and that’ll make the other petitioners mad, but she’ll need to put the extra soldiers somewhere._

  
Stopping in front of Hokage-sama’s door, Sano knocked. “Hokage-sama,” he called.

  
The door opened, and Shizune stuck her head out. She had circles under her eyes, but she didn’t look like Sano woke her up. “Tsunade-sama is in a meeting right now,” she said. “She’ll be done soon if you wish to wait.”

  
“We will wait,” responded Sano. Shizune stepped back and Sano walked in with Ino in his wake. The waiting room had comfortable chairs and the light green paint on the walls and wide windows comforted Ino. She remembered waiting in this room before a briefing for a mission and the feelings of nostalgia washed over her. She could imagine Asuma looking out the window in the direction of Kurenai-sensei’s apartment, his back to his students. Chouji would have been sitting in a chair next to her, laughing with her about something. And Shikamaru would be standing close to the door leading to Hokage-sama’s office and looking at Asuma’s back…Wait, that’s not right. Ino shook her head. Shikamaru would either have been sitting near her and Chouji or standing with Asuma; he wouldn’t be standing by the door. Besides, that image of Shikamaru looked too old to be a Genin…

  
It took her a second to realize that it wasn’t her imagination that summoned Shikamaru by the door; he was standing there in the flesh. The door closed behind him, and he sighed. “Troublesome,” she heard him mutter. “Why couldn’t they leave each other alone? They live on opposite sides of the world, for crying out loud.”

  
She knew when he noticed her. He stopped, head still down, then turned to look at her. He didn’t even spare a glance for Sano by the windows. _He needs to rest!_ the medic-nin in Ino screamed. _Why hasn’t Hokage-sama put him on mandatory rest?_ Every time she saw him, he looked a little worse. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do anything; with a war going on and so few Jounin available in Konoha, every shinobi was needed, Shikamaru even more so since he was Konoha’s head strategist. He blinked a few times as though trying to think of a reason for her presence at this time. His lips moved to form half-words, but no sound escaped. “I’m here with him,” she answered his unspoken question and nodded at Sano.

  
The shinobi didn’t even look at Sano. “Everywhere I go, I seem to run into you,” he said, his voice barely carrying to where she sat. His gaze at her was narrow, like he was accusing her of something, but the dark circles around his eyes that matched Shizune’s told her he could barely keep his eyes open.

  
“Are you okay?” she asked, standing and walking over to him. “You look like you’re overworked.” _The war hasn’t even officially started and he’s already looking like this. He won’t make it through without some care from Chouji. He hasn’t been eating well._ Her analytical side was already taking notes on what needed to be done to get the Nara back into proper shape.

  
“I’ll be fine,” he answered, taking a step towards the exit. However, he stumbled and ended up on his hands and knees on the floor.

  
“Nara-san!” cried Ino. “Here, just rest a minute before heading out again.”

  
“I can’t afford to rest,” he mumbled as she led him over to one of the loveseats. Once he was sitting down, she pushed his chest down so that he was lying across it. “What are you doing?” he asked, one of his hands over his eyes.

  
“You aren’t well,” she bluntly told him. “You don’t take care of yourself and your body is starting to shut down. Now lay here until you can get up without seeing stars.”

  
He sighed, but he didn’t try to get up. Satisfied that he would obey, Ino turned around to see Shizune and Sano watching her from the window and Tsunade-sama watching from the doorway Shikamaru had left ajar. The blond Hokage sighed and shook her head. “I told him he was overworking himself,” the blond woman stated.

  
“Oh, Tsunade-sama, these people wish to speak with you,” said Shizune. “They are from the performance troupe over near – ”

  
“I know who they are,” Tsunade-sama’s voice floated from the open door. “Please come in.”

  
Ino followed Sano into the office. Even that appeared the same. The same paint covered the walls of the Hokage’s office, large stacks of papers stood in columns on the desk, a concealed stash of sake bottles lay in one of the desk drawers, though Ino could see part of the neck of one of the bottles behind one of the paper columns. The Hokage sat down behind her desk, and the unhidden bottle disappeared. Folding her hands so her chin rested on them, Tsunade-sama looked at the two of them. “What brings you to my office so early in the morning?” she inquired. Her brown eyes revealed nothing of her thoughts. She glanced at Ino and put her attention on Sano.

  
“I have a request, Hokage-sama,” said Sano, his tone respectful. “We have been in Konoha for far longer than usual,” he started, but Tsunade-sama was already shaking her head. “We have a war going on, and we can’t let people just come in and leave,” she said.

  
“I wasn’t asking you to release us,” he assured her. “Some of our members wish to rent some of your available apartment spaces.”

  
Tsunade-sama frowned. “This request is coming at an inopportune time,” she murmured, but Ino could see that she was considering the idea. Any extra income would be welcome at this time.

  
“Some of the families wish to enroll their children in your academy. I know that you are already pressed, but these people could contribute to your village,” Sano continued. “I can vouch for all of them. They are all hard workers.”

  
“You do realize that if they start training to become shinobi, they won’t be able to leave Konoha without permission?”

  
“They understand. It was explained to them and they all have agreed to remain in Konoha after the war if you allow them to stay.”

  
The Hokage came to a decision and stood up. “Shizune!” she called.

  
The Jounin stuck her head inside the office. “Tsunade-sama?”

  
“I need you to take down the names this man will give you and see if we can find apartment spaces near the inn where they’re staying.” She turned to Sano, who was smiling. “The families have a week to come here and sign the papers. Was there anything else?”

  
“No, Hokage-sama,” Sano replied as he followed Shizune. “Thank you very much. I know this is a busy time for you.”

  
“Busy doesn’t begin to cover it,” muttered Tsunade-sama, taking a swig from one of her sake bottles. “Did you need something, too?” she asked Ino.

  
Sano answered for her. “She’s one of the members requesting a new living space.”

  
“I see. Shizune, how long will it take you to get those papers done?”

  
“Um, it’ll be a while,” was the woman’s distracted reply. Ino heard Sano’s deep voice dictating names and the frantic scratching of a pen as Shizune tried to keep up.

  
“Since this young woman is already here, do hers first. It’ll be one less thing to worry about.”

  
“Yes, Tsunade-sama.”

  
Ino bowed to the Hokage. “Thank you, Hokage-sama,” she said. Hokage-sama just waved her away with a hand while she attacked one stack of papers. “So much paperwork,” Ino heard her mutter as she walked out of the office. Shizune’s had was a blur of movement as she copied the names of new Konoha citizens, and the look of concentration on her face made her scary enough that even the Akatsuki would have hesitated to attack her. Ino waited while Sano kept reciting, and she smiled when Shizune sighed with relief at the end of the list of names. “So, what is your name?” she asked Ino as she flexed her writing hand.

  
“Ishigawa Hikari,” Ino responded.

  
“Okay, just give me a few minutes.”

  
Shizune searched for the proper paperwork in her desk, and Ino walked back over to the sitting area. On the loveseats lay Shikamaru, an arm over his face. Kneeling down next to him, Ino was surprised to see that he had fallen sound asleep. His quiet breathing was too deep for him to be awake, and he didn’t react at all when she lightly shook his arm. Glancing around, Ino saw that Sano had left and Shizune was working on the papers to her apartment. Maybe it would even be her old one. No sound came from Tsunade-sama’s office. Rubbing her hands together, she let out her breath and reached toward Shikamaru’s temple. The only ones who were close enough to know what she was doing were the ones who assigned her this mission, and it was her golden opportunity.

  
The door slammed open, startling both Ino and Shizune. Shikamaru was too deeply asleep to even stir. Annoyed that once again her attempt to check the Nara was thwarted, she glared behind her and froze. Yamanaka Inoichi and Nara Shikaku strode into the room and made for Hokage-sama’s door. Her father walked into the office and Shikaku glanced over at the loveseat where Ino knelt by his comatose son. The scarred man sighed and walked over to the loveseat. “This boy,” he said. He reached for Shikamaru’s shoulder, but Ino’s arm shot out on its own accord to stop him. “Please let him rest,” she said. _My arm moved on its own. I didn’t mean to do that._ “He needs sleep to get better.”

  
“It’s all right, miss,” Shikaku chuckled. “My son can rest when I get him home. If he stays here, he’ll be waking up as soon as the sun comes because that’s when everyone will be visiting Hokage-sama.” He reached down again, and this time Ino didn’t stop him. “Hey, you know better than to be sleeping in a place like this,” he admonished Shikamaru.

  
The younger man groaned and sat up slowly. “Where am I?” he mumbled.

  
“In Hokage-sama’s tower, where you fell asleep. Come on, I’ll get you home. Your mother’s been worried about you.” As Shikamaru stumbled to the door, his father turned around and said, “Thank you for worrying about my son.” He nodded to Ino and followed Shikamaru.

  
Ino was very tempted to curse out loud. _Why did they have to come in right now?_ she wondered angrily. Of all the times to make an entrance, their fathers chose the exact moment that she was going to check the shadow-user. It was better than them walking in after she had already entered his mind; her father would know what was going on, and there was a chance that they would have attacked first and asked questions later. Slowly rising to her feet, she almost walked out the door when Shizune called to her. “Ishigawa-san, I have you ready,” the Jounin said, extending a paper towards her. “All you have to do is sign here,” she said when Ino walked over. “This paper is your apartment number and complex, and these are your keys. Welcome to the village.”

  
Ino saw the numbers on the paper and they looked familiar. _This is my old apartment complex,_ she realized, though that was not her old apartment number. Thinking back, Shizune hadn’t acted any differently towards her, but she must have known that Hikari was Ino. However, she and Tsunade-sama weren’t supposed to know who Ino was so that they wouldn’t accidently give it away. Or it could be just a coincidence. It was quite close to the inn, so the odds were pretty good that several other troupe members would end up as her new neighbors.

  
The sun was starting to creep up, and the shinobi who were training the new Genin were already up, their sleepy students trailing them. Ahead she saw Kakashi-sensei talking with Anko-san. The woman looked annoyed while Kakashi-sensei’s eyes crinkled with amusement. Hinata’s younger sister, Hyuuga Hanabi, walked with two Hyuuga retainers in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. Ahead, she saw Rock Lee marching down the road with his Genin in tow. The Genin looked tired and muddy, but Lee, even covered in mud, was declaring that they were in the blossom of their youth, and if they feel tired, then they need to train more to keep their youthful vigor. Ino didn’t think the children registered anything the man was saying.

  
As she arrived in front of her apartment complex, she stopped and looked up at her door. Was she making the right decision to start distancing herself from the troupe? Would she be able to keep Mika from running into her husband, or worse, his wife? Would Shin ever forgive her for making the decision to stay? He was angry last night, and while he usually forgave easily, she had crushed more than four years’ worth of hope and unrequited – for the most part – love. Her head knew it was for the best, but her heart still ached at his expression when she left him. Shaking her head, she mounted the stairs to her door and, sliding the key into the lock and turning, opened the door.

  
It looked like a normal apartment, devoid of all personal touches. A couch and a loveseat sat in the living room and a small table sat off to the side in the kitchen, but no pictures hung on the walls. Wandering over to the master bedroom, a small full bed stood in the corner where her queen had once been in her old apartment. No sheets or comforter covered the mattress. White blinds covered the windows where she was used to seeing lacy, purple curtains with dark purple tassels to hold them in place. Ino didn’t want to think about what had happened to her things after she had “died”.

  
She walked back out into the living room and sat down on the couch. “I’m home,” she said aloud to the empty room. Something didn’t feel right, but she couldn’t place it. Back when she first joined the troupe, she had been disconcerted that there were always people everywhere. It was like the concept of being alone didn’t even exist, and for a person who enjoyed taking a few moments to herself, it was quite the claustrophobic feeling. She couldn’t go anywhere without seeing another person. Now, the silence and absence of another person felt oppressive and could only be banished with the presence of other people.  
There wasn’t much she could do here, so she wouldn’t stay long. She didn’t even have food in her refrigerator, but she could take care of that later. If she remembered correctly, she didn’t have anything planned for today. Then she remembered her conversation with Shin and what had prompted it. “I need to see Mika,” she murmured.

  
It didn’t occur to her that Mika might not be awake yet until she was already at Mika’s open door, but the woman was smiling and welcoming her in when she saw her. “I wasn’t expecting you so early,” she said as she practiced walking around the room. “The doctor told me that I should be okay to leave soon. I want to leave as soon as possible.”

  
“I don’t blame you,” Ino commented. “You’ve been here for quite a while.”

  
“And that man is paying the bill.” The blond woman frowned. “I don’t know how I can repay him. It’s not a good feeling, being in someone’s debt. But he just says not to worry about it whenever I try to address the issue.”

  
“When have you seen him to address it?” asked Ino, surprised. He should have been too busy to do anything beyond jumping at Hokage-sama’s command and falling over in his bed to catch a few hours of rest in between the jumps.

  
“He comes by a lot. I haven’t seen him recently, but he would stop by and talk to me. He seems like a nice person, and other people have told me that he is a good man and won’t take advantage of my indebtedness.”

  
“Hm…He may not be visiting soon.” She told her about her earlier encounter and her worries for him. “If he doesn’t take care of himself, then he’s not going to make it through the war, and I’ve heard that he is an important person to this village.”

  
Mika smacked her fist against the palm of her other hand. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “I know it won’t be enough, but I can help take care of him.”

  
“How do you propose to do that?” asked Ino. “You’re still in the hospital and you won’t be up for much once you’re out.”

  
“That’s true…but a debt is a debt, and I can at least make meals for him. He’s done so much for me, and I’ve treated him terribly. I feel like I have to help him.” Her eyes pleaded with Ino in a way that reminded Ino of herself.

  
“You can’t do much; you’re still recovering.” Ino hesitated, then sighed as she reached a conclusion. “If it comes to it, I’ll help you if I can.” She explained her new living situation to Mika. As she talked, she realized that once Mika left the hospital, she would also need a place to stay. She could stay at the inn, but having her and Sayo live with her would give her a better alibi if she needed it. It would be easy to suspect her if she lived on her own, but with another woman and a small child…It would make her work harder, but she had been dealing with that for four years, and Mika was family. Ino would make it work. Besides, the obtaining of her apartment was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and she hadn’t realized how lonely she would feel after living constantly surrounded by other people for four years.

  
“Are you sure?” asked Mika when Ino offered to share her apartment. “You’re paying for it out of your own pocket, aren’t you?”

  
“I am, but I have enough to make ends meet right now, and I’ll be looking for a side job in Konoha,” Ino assured her. Without the income from a show, the troupe would be hard-pressed for money soon, and the members would need to pick up odd jobs around Konoha.

  
“Thank you.” Gratitude radiated from the woman in front of her. Ino was glad to see Mika this way again. It was such a contrast to the woman she had been after finding Toya’s wedding news. It would be like when she, Mika, and Sayo all lived together in Ino’s tent. Mika might have to find a job also, but Ino was sure that Shin and Kagura would still help look after Sayo. Even if Shin wanted nothing to do with her anymore, he would still want to help Mika. If they were busy, Sayo had gotten along well with Kurogane’s group. They had their own agenda, but Sakura had always been willing to watch the child. Her bouts of narcolepsy had abated, so Ino wasn’t concerned about leaving a small child in her care.

  
As Ino thought about how to go about helping Mika help Shikamaru, she smiled as she found the silver lining to the cloud of her own making. If he got used to her being around all the time, then he wouldn’t always be on his guard, and she would be able to get him. She knew that his name wasn’t the only one left on the list, but he had become almost an obsession, and she was focusing all her attention on him. It wasn’t like she could check Sai or Sakura; they weren’t even in Konoha at the moment. Besides, she doubted that it was either of them. Well, Sai was a maybe, but he had changed after befriending Naruto and Sakura. A few of the Hyuuga clan were listed, but all she had to do was go to the compound to locate them. Some of the remaining Jounin listed were off on missions, so the only challenge remaining and within reach was Shikamaru.

  
The two women chatted about what Ino had observed of Konoha so Mika would know something before she left the hospital, and a few hours after Ino had arrived, Shin brought Sayo to see her mother. Seeing him again caused Ino’s heart to clench and she found it hard to breathe when he didn’t even look at her. Ignoring Ino, he put Sayo in Mika’s arms and asked how she felt. “I just remembered, I need to go,” Ino said, standing. “I’ll see you later.”

  
She heard Mika ask Shin what was wrong as she left, but she hustled herself out of there before her heart burst. It wasn’t right! She tried so hard not to fall for him, and now that she had already alienated him, these symptoms showed up. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You knew this wasn’t going to be an easy mission, she tried to tell herself. But she wasn’t supposed to form any attachments, by the First! _Maybe now Kagura will have her persistence rewarded._ The thought didn’t make her feel better.

  
Not paying attention to where she was going, she found herself by the main gate, and activity up at the top caused her to look up. The sentries were shouting, and someone was sprinting for the Hokage Tower. Unless the Earth Country army had shown up, this should be the retinue from Water Country. Looking behind, she saw the shinobi start to form the welcoming committee. The very first ones there were Guy-sensei and Lee along with their Genin, all of them looking excited. In the distance she spotted Akamaru with small figures on his back. As a newcomer to Konoha and not even a citizen, Hikari should not be there, but she wanted to see this King Toya that she had heard so much about. Fading into the midst of the shinobi around her, she made herself look like she belonged there and waited for the appearance of the Water Country army.

  
“Hey, what are you doing here?”

  
Ino glanced down and saw Sou, Kureha, and Tohru by her side. Sou was the one who whispered the question, and they were all looking at her suspiciously. Smiling in an attempt to ease their minds, she answered, “I just found myself here. What are you doing?”

  
“We’re here to welcome the Water Country army,” Kureha replied. Tohru was moving around behind Ino, but she didn’t sense any aggressiveness from him, only wariness. “You aren’t a Konoha shinobi. You shouldn’t be here.”

  
“Am I not allowed to see a king in person?” she asked. “I promise not to do anything bad for Konoha here. I’m only observing.”

  
A quick scan of their minds showed that the brown-haired boy wanted to ask about her mission, but Kureha cut him off. “Here they are!” she exclaimed. They turned their attention to the front, but the Aburame Genin remained behind her. It was a good thing Sou hadn’t mentioned anything. They were surrounded by experienced shinobi, and she didn’t know who would be listening.

  
The sea of shinobi split down the middle, and Tsunade-sama, flanked by Shizune and the elders of Konoha, walked forward to greet King Toya and Queen Lochia, who were walking through the gate with an escort of soldiers. “Welcome to Konoha,” said Tsunade-sama, embracing King Toya, then his wife.

  
“Thank you for your support in this,” Toya-dono replied. Lochia-dono nodded in agreement.

  
He did have Shikamaru’s eyes. They even had the same dark hair, though the king’s hair was cut much shorter than the shinobi’s. He didn’t have the same aura about him that Shikamaru did; this man was someone who would go out of his way for a person who needed his help. Maybe that was why his people called him back from exile to lead them. His eyes glanced around at the shinobi arranged in front of him, and while Ino could tell he was assessing Konoha’s strength, he didn’t have that shrewd intelligence that hid behind Shikamaru’s façade of continuous boredom. So maybe Shikamaru resembled him physically slightly; she would never have confused the two as Mika seemed to when she first met Shikamaru.

  
The king and Hokage-sama had finished up their greeting while Ino had assessed the man, and they were walking towards the Hokage Tower, probably to discuss the first plans of action. Other shinobi were taking the soldiers to their assigned quarters, and the rest were drifting away. As Ino started walking back to her apartment, Chouji joined her with his Genin. “Did you see?” he asked. His Genin, along with Shikamaru’s Genin who ran to catch up to her, kept an eye on her and their sensei.

  
“I did,” she answered, pretending to ignore the small children. “It really drives home that there’s going to be a war soon. I knew that it would happen since Hokage-sama wouldn’t let Sano take the troupe somewhere else, but I didn’t think much of it until just now.”

  
“We’ll need all our Jounin out in the field, and that means the Genin will be learning the hard way what it means to defend the village.” He glanced at the children by them. “The hospital will fill up, and they’ll need more hands than they have. You mentioned looking for a job a while ago, so there will be plenty of opportunity soon.”

  
She remembered talking about it with Chouji, but she hadn’t thought about going to the hospital for a job. It was the obvious choice and she could have kicked herself for not thinking of it. “Thank you for suggesting that. I will ask about that.” She would have stopped, but her mouth asked, “Have you seen Nara-san today?”

  
Chouji shook his head. “No, why?” The Genin were watching her. They weren’t subtle spies at all. She would need to mention that at a later time to Chouji and Shikamaru.

  
“I saw him early this morning, and he looked terrible. I don’t think he’s getting enough rest or eating properly.”

  
Her friend sighed. “He needs a keeper. If he doesn’t look after himself, he won’t make it through the war and we’ll lose one of our best tacticians.”

  
“Chouji-sensei, you shouldn’t talk about those kinds of things in front of civilians,” one of his Genin butted in. The boy’s glasses magnified his eyes, making them disproportionate to the rest of his face.

  
“My friend is worried about him as well. The one in the hospital,” Ino continued. “Do you think that Hokage-sama would allow him time to recover from his self-abuse? Mika, my friend, wants to help him in any way she can since he paid for her hospital stay. I, too, would help him for that. Maybe you could help us to help him?”

  
Chouji read through her words right to her motive. “I can help while I’m here,” he agreed, though she could tell that he wasn’t happy about what she had to do. He never had been at ease with trying to corner their friend so she could search through his mind. Chouji had complete faith that he wasn’t the person Ino was looking for, but Ino wasn’t as certain as he was; she was still straddling the fence about Shikamaru. “If he’s as bad off as you say, then I’d better go look in on him.”

  
“We’ll go with you,” volunteered Kureha. Her teammates nodded in agreement.

  
“Do you want to come?” he asked Ino.

  
She smiled and shook her head. “I should go to the hospital and ask about that job you mentioned.” _Hopefully Shin will be gone and I can see Mika and Sayo again._

  
Parting ways with the shinobi, she made her way back to the hospital, ignoring the pain going through her heart. On her way, Dr. Kyle rushed past, coming close enough that he brushed against her arm. Looking back at him, she noticed Syaoran and Kurogane standing off to the side and watching the doctor with dislike on their faces. They even had tinges of suspicion in their expressions, though why that would be she had no idea. Maybe it had to do with their mission, but as far as she knew, the doctor hadn’t interacted with their group at all.

  
After arriving at the hospital, she talked to the head nurse, and to her surprise she was told to report for training the next morning. They must anticipate needing lots of experienced hands if they were already throwing her into the work force. No matter what the reason was, it worked to Ino’s favor and she wasn’t going to question it. She wouldn’t be able to work with her chakra, but learning all aspects of being a medic wasn’t a waste of time. There may come a time when her chakra was depleted and she would need to treat one of her teammates.

  
The only visitor Mika had in her room was Misao, to Ino’s relief. “They told us that Mika can be discharged tomorrow afternoon,” Misao informed Ino as she sat next to her “great-aunt”. “Mika told me that she and Sayo will be moving in with you in your new living space.” A raised eyebrow accompanied that statement. Misao didn’t see why she was leaving the troupe, which gave her the anonymity she required for her mission. However, since Ino had come in with the troupe and lived with the troupe, the people of Konoha would still associate her with the troupe because she was moving out at the same time as some of the other families, and not all of them were planning on staying in Konoha; she had overheard Asahi and her husband as two of the names Sano had given to Shizune, and they both would be leaving when the troupe did, she was positive of that.

  
“I just found a job with the hospital,” said Ino. “I know that since we aren’t performing now, we’ll need to find other ways to pay for our rooms, and staying at the inn for months on end will be a large drain on everyone. I think in the long run, staying in an apartment will be less expensive.”

  
Mika looked horrified. “We’re staying here for months more?” she asked.

  
Misao nodded. “We have to. With Konoha mobilizing for a war, no one will be allowed to leave except soldiers and shinobi. The troupe is stranded here until the fighting stops.”

  
Looking down at her hands, Mika murmured, “I didn’t know there was a war going on.”

  
The two kunoichi looked at each other. “The fighting won’t be close to us,” Ino assured her. “They just don’t want to run the chance of us running into the opposite army if we leave. That’s all.”

  
They turned the conversation to safer topics, and Ino and Misao left when the nurse told them that visiting hours were over. Misao continued walking with Ino, and the two of them headed to her apartment. “Are you sure that having her with you is good?” asked Misao. She kept her voice low so that the occasional passerby wouldn’t hear their conversation. “You have to focus on your goal. If you keep getting tied down with other matters, you will lose your chance.”

  
“People are less likely to suspect me if I have a roommate with a young child,” responded Ino as she sidestepped a slushy spot in her path. “She’s still recovering, so she won’t notice if I’m out late at night. I can say that I’m looking in on Shikamaru.”

  
“The tactician?”

  
“Mika feels like she owes him, so we’re going to keep an eye on him to make sure that he gets healthier. He isn’t doing well.”

  
“No, he isn’t,” mused Misao. “It’s early enough that Tsunade might give him some time to rest before putting him to work again. For now, she and Toya can work on the logistics of where to put people. If I remember correctly, that boy’s father is also a good tactician and can fill in for a short amount of time.”

  
“You know the Naras?”

  
Misao chuckled. “I remember Shikaku when he was a Genin. He would get into all sorts of trouble with Inoichi and Chouza. I think they were responsible for more white hairs on their sensei’s head than any of the battles the man had seen before them. Shikamaru takes after his father, in more ways than one, though his apparent path of self-destruction was not something I ever witnessed in Shikaku.”

  
“He just needs someone to watch him and take care of him until he can get by on his own again. Mika owes him, and I owe him, too, for everything he’s done for her.”

  
Misao clucked her tongue. “A noble thought, but it won’t help you with what you have to do.”

  
“He’s part of it.”

  
“Don’t overlook every other possibility just because you are focused on one part; remember to look at the whole.” They stopped in front of Ino’s apartment. The older kunoichi put a hand on Ino’s shoulder. “Good luck,” she said and turned away to tramp back to the inn a couple blocks away.

  
The empty apartment welcomed her home the same way a medical secretary greeted a new patient, with a detached air. The room, while more extravagant than her tent on the road with the troupe, didn’t feel as homey as those plain canvas walls of her tent. She groaned when she realized that she still hadn’t gone grocery shopping, so she had no food in the house. Well, she could skip a meal and be fine. Besides, she had gained weight while being away from Konoha, and it was time to start slimming down. She would just get more food before Mika and Sayo came.


	11. Chapter 11

Mika’s hospital leave found many troupe members waiting to walk with her to her new home. They had been expecting her to stay at the inn, but it didn’t dampen the cheery atmosphere when she told them that she would be staying with Hikari. Many of the other members, including Asahi and her husband, were renting the apartments in Ino’s complex, so they didn’t see anything wrong with her decision. Ino watched Shin and Kagura when Mika announced her living arrangements, and while Kagura looked thrilled, Shin’s face fell. She knew why, and she didn’t blame him. If he wanted to see Mika, there was a good chance he would have to see her, too.

Both Mika and Sayo went to sleep early that first night. Sayo was still a toddler who needed to sleep constantly, and this was Mika’s first time out the hospital in months. It didn’t surprise Ino when she came out of the bathroom and found both of them passed out on the couch in the living room. Draping a thick blanket over the two of them, she put on a heavy coat and walked outside to ponder what Misao had told her earlier. _I guess I have been focusing too much on Shikamaru,_ she thought, holding her coat closer against the wind chill. _I just don’t know what to think about him. His actions point toward him being the most likely suspect, but then what about everyone’s memories? Was he just acting?_ She shook her head. _I know that I can’t get to him right now. I did see Sakura at the hospital earlier, though; she and her group must have come in after Water Country’s army. I can find her or Sai tonight unless Sai’s still out training with Naruto. I’m pretty sure I saw them head in the direction of the training fields earlier today._

With her quarries in mind, she strode in the direction of Sakura and Dr. Kyle’s apartment. Hopefully she would be home alone. They both worked at the hospital, so there was a chance that they would be there if they weren’t at home, but she couldn’t check her friend when she was surrounded by so many other shinobi.

A person wandered across her path, and Ino drew back to the shadows out of reflex. The person looked dazed, her freckles standing out under the light of the lamp. It took Ino a second to place where she had seen this person before, and when she did, she stepped forward. “Lochia-dono?” she asked.

The woman looked at her. “Excuse me, but can you tell me how to get to the Hokage Tower?” she asked. “I’m afraid I’m not used to this place, and I got lost.”

“Of course, ma’am,” replied Ino. “Aren’t you supposed to have guards?”

She looked puzzled. “I don’t know what happened to them,” she confessed. “I thought they were with me, but I guess I lost them, too.”

That didn’t seem right. This person was too important to lose both her own guard and the shinobi assigned to watch her. “Where were you before?” asked Ino as she guided the queen back towards the Hokage Tower and the royal suite. If her suspicion was right, then completing her mission just became even more crucial.

“I wanted to see the city of Konoha,” Lochia-dono replied, “so I went out with my guards, but the next thing I knew, I was lost, and my guards were nowhere to be found. I am lucky that I happened to find you.”

What Ino found more amazing was that Lochia-dono hadn’t run into anyone else before Ino. It wasn’t all that late, so more shinobi should have been out. She would need to ask for Chouji’s help, but she had a suspicion that the queen and her retinue had run into a genjutsu trap that had addled the wits of everyone with her, including the seasoned shinobi guarding her. That would imply that her target was very skilled and very subtle if no one had discovered it before it was sprung. She had no doubt that her informant was the one responsible for this and there was a good chance that he was watching from somewhere close by, waiting for his chance to do something to Lochia-dono. Bringing her guard up to the max, Ino let her arm relax so that her hand was right next to the hilt of one of her kunai.

“Why, if it isn’t Hikari!”

The voice startled her and she almost attacked the person who spoke, but as soon as she saw who it was, she relaxed. Fye and Kurogane joined the two women, the blond man grinning and the dark-haired man scanning the area around them. “Fye,” she said in greeting, returning his smile. “I’m just walking this woman back to the Hokage Tower.”

“Imagine that, Kuro-pu,” the wizard said. “We were just going that direction as well. We’ll all walk together! The more the merrier, right?”

The other man grunted, and Ino felt the imminent danger recede. If the informant saw just two women on their own and one was his target, he would not have hesitated. However, with two others with them, and one of them a proven swordsman, the chances went way down for an attack. Fye caught Lochia-dono up in a stream of banter and Ino felt herself drawn in as well. She didn’t think that Lochia-dono felt it, but she kept her guard up and she knew the other two well enough to recognize the tension in both of them. Fye’s eyes glanced at the shadows around them too often and Kurogane’s hand never left his sword hilt. Ino kept on alert for signs of genjutsu since the queen’s story brought up the possibility.

The lights of the Hokage Tower and the sounds of subdued panic reached Ino’s ears when they were still a block away. “We’re almost there,” she told the queen. “It’s just over there. Please don’t rush,” she said, grabbing the queen’s arm when she tried to hurry forward. “No one wants you to trip over something in the dark.” That was a lie, but she didn’t want the monarch to get a case of paranoia.

It was obvious when they were spotted. ANBU appeared from the shadows, surrounding them. Kurogane and Fye shifted their weight into fighting positions, but Lochia-dono just looked startled. One of the shinobi, there was no way to tell which one, spoke up. “Release Lochia-dono,” he demanded.

Recovering, Lochia-dono waved her hands at him. “No, no, no,” she said. “These people were just taking me back to the Hokage Tower. I got lost, that’s all.”

The ANBU looked at each other. “We will escort you the rest of the way,” said one in a cat mask, stepping forward.

“Very well.” The queen looked back at them and inclined her head toward them. “Thank you for getting me this far,” she said. “If you need something, please don’t hesitate to come find me.”

Fye grinned at her. “That is very kind of you, Your Majesty,” he said. “We will remember that.”

The ANBU formed an honor guard and left with the queen. “What was all that?” asked Kurogane. “Doesn’t she know better than to wander around without a guard, even in a safe city?”

Ino explained her fears to them as they walked back towards the inn. Kurogane frowned. “Oi, could you check if that’s the case?” he addressed Fye.

The blond man shook his head. “I can’t use my magic,” he responded. “Even if it was something I could sense, I would need to be at the site where the trap was set up, and we don’t know where she was before Hikari ran into her. It could be anywhere.”

_This is bad,_ thought Ino as she listened to the two world travelers’ debate about what to do. _A shinobi did that. If it fooled the Jounin guarding the queen, then it had to be set up by a person skilled in genjutsu. Sakura is more of a taijutsu user and Shikamaru was never good at genjutsu. It could be Sai, but I saw him with Naruto. There’s no way they finished training early enough for him to set up a genjutsu of that subtlety. That means the only suspects left in Konoha that could do this are from the Hyuuga compound. Damn._

~*~

Luck wasn’t with Ino. The hospital training was much longer than she had anticipated, and the hours were longer, too. In the weeks since she ran into Lochia-dono, the war preparation had escalated and the shinobi started migrating out to the areas where Earth Country’s soldiers were supposed to be, Shikamaru, Sakura, and some of her other targets included. Konoha wasn’t stripped of its defenses, but Ino noticed a definite drop in the number of shinobi she saw when she walked through the streets.  Thoughts of her friends and fellow shinobi occupied her mind, but she had more to think about than just the war. Mika had gotten herself a night job, which put a huge damper on Ino’s nightly forays into Konoha because she couldn’t leave Sayo at home by herself, but she wondered why the other woman would go for a night job. Even though Konoha was a village of shinobi, it wasn’t one hundred percent safe, as evidenced by the genjutsu on Lochia-dono and the ANBU, and Ino worried about her. She especially worried that she would run into Toya-dono. It was a long shot, but if Lochia-dono could wander into a genjutsu surrounded by Konoha’s best, then the king had a chance of running into his former wife.

Ino groaned aloud, causing the nurse next to her to look at her in concern. “Are you all right?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Ino assured her. “I just wish there was more that I could do.”

“Don’t we all,” the nurse agreed, blowing long bangs out of her face. “We’ll be doing a lot more when they start sending the injured back here. Enjoy the break while we have it.”

Finishing up her last roll, Ino stood up and checked out. Today she had a mission in the Hyuuga compound and she was nervous about it. The person she was looking for, Hyuuga Takeru, was a member of the branch family, and while he wasn’t as talented as Neji or the main branch children, he had inherited the Hyuuga bloodline trait Byakugan and could do considerable damage to her if she wasn’t careful. His main role was to assist the head of the family, which was why he was still in Konoha instead of out in the field. Because of his close proximity to the head of the family, he had access to information that could be of interest to an enemy, which was why he was a suspect.

By drawing up memories of visiting the Hyuuga family when she was younger as part of the Clan Formalities, as her family called them, Ino was able to locate the Hyuuga compound without going through the main gate and announcing her presence to everyone inside. Her job would be difficult because she didn’t remember a Hyuuga Takeru; he had never stood out, so she didn’t even know what he looked like. She growled softly. Unless someone called him by name, she wouldn’t know him even if he stood right in front of her. Using her Mind Transfer Jutsu on a squirrel, she sent the mammal closer to the training grounds, where the Hyuuga clan should be training, according to her research.

The sounds of fighting scared the small squirrel. Ino could feel its heart thumping fast enough to burst out of the poor creature’s chest, but she moved it closer, keeping it close to the brown fence. A small tendril of green poked through the melting snow, but Ino forced the squirrel’s attention on the two Hyuuga in the ring. They were both servants, and Hyuuga Hiashi-sama watched them from the sidelines, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. The combatants in the ring were striking each other with glancing blows, but with the Byakugan activated, Ino knew that each touch was like being hit with a boulder. Both men had sweat running down their faces.

When Hiashi-sama stepped forward, the fighters immediately stopped and dropped to their knees. The Hyuuga lord looked down at them, his impassive face giving away nothing of what he could be feeling. “Rise,” he commanded. Looking at the one on his right, he said, “Takeru, you need to practice better control. You still waste too much chakra. Your Byakugan will not be much help to you if you can only use it for a few minutes.”

“Yes, Hiashi-sama,” the man replied, his head bowed. He looked like a stereotypical Hyuuga. His brown hair was tied back and his lavender eyes held no emotion. Still, Ino thought that she would be able to locate him again once she was back in her body.

Letting go of the squirrel, she stretched out her own body to prevent cramps from forming. If she remembered correctly, both fighters would wash the sweat from their faces before returning to the main house. Spring was coming and the days were getting longer, which meant that she couldn’t wait for dark to cover her while she checked the Hyuuga. She would have to be very careful going about this. As long as she stayed in the trees, the dark clothes she wore would make her less visible.

She slinked along the edge of the trees just out of sight and got close to the water trough that the Hyuuga used to wash themselves before entering the buildings. Both Takeru and his opponent were there. Neither one spoke. Just as Ino stopped to wonder how to get Takeru to come over, she saw them glance at each other and the other Hyuuga nodded. They disappeared and Ino swore, leaping away. _They’re onto me,_ she thought. Sure enough, two blurs were on her tail, but they wouldn’t be able to see her until she slowed down. However, they were close enough that she wouldn’t be able to get away from them. _Why didn’t I lay some traps down first?_ she scolded herself, dodging a kunai. The Hyuuga were jealous of their techniques, and if they thought she was spying on them for their bloodline trait…this didn’t look good for her chances. Using the Kage Bushin no Jutsu, several clones split off and attacked the two pursuers, giving Ino a chance to hide among the foliage around them and assess the situation. The two had just fought each other, so their chakra levels were low, but if they pulled down the mask covering her face, it would blow her cover.

The two Hyuuga’s movements were getting sluggish, indicating that they were tiring faster than Ino would have thought. Then again, they had just finished a match against each other, and who knows how long they were training before that. Smiling, she joined the fray and attacked the extra Hyuuga. He struck the side of her head, giving her a moment of disorientation, but one of the clones kicked his stomach, bringing him down. Ino and her clones all attacked Takeru, who knew it was a futile fight now. She saw him making the symbols that would severely damage both of them and sent a kunai at his hands. He blocked with his own kunai, breaking the hand seal sequence. A clone disarmed him and two more restrained him. He sank to his knees, his head bowed; he knew that he had lost. Still, the clones had to strain to hold him in place. Just because a Hyuuga was beaten didn’t mean that he would give up the clan secrets while he lived. Slowly approaching him, the kunoichi used genjutsu to bind his consciousness while she searched him. There was no way that she was going to leave a Hyuuga free while she went through his mind; that would just be suicide.

Because he had access to the confidential information of the Hyuuga clan, it took Ino more time than she liked to search through his mind. There was a good chance that Hiashi-sama would miss his assistant if he took too long returning from the training area, and they weren’t that far away from it. If someone found them like this, it wouldn’t look good for Ino. In fact, it would be quite fatal for her; the Hyuuga weren’t known for their understanding. Opening another memory, she let it surround her so she could see what he saw. For some reason, they were in a copse of trees that didn’t appear to be native to Fire Country.  Looking around, Ino spotted Takeru sitting near a fast-running brook. Tenten and Neji were standing near him, and Shikamaru was looking at the three of them with an irritated expression. “Shikamaru, we can’t keep going like this,” Tenten panted. The woman looked tired.

“If we don’t hurry, then we’ll lose the trail,” snapped Shikamaru. Ino blinked; Shikamaru never spoke like that, even when someone was being pig-headed. She would know.

Neji spoke up. “It will mean nothing if we catch them and are too tired to do more than watch them run.” He was glaring at Shikamaru, and Ino noticed that his left arm had a slight tremor. Even Neji was close to his breaking point.

For a second, it looked like Shikamaru was going to argue with them, but instead he stormed off. Takeru looked at the other two and asked, “Is he always like this? I didn’t think that Hokage-sama would choose such an irresponsible person for a team captain.”

Tenten sighed. “He’s been like this ever since his teammate was killed a while ago. He was in love with her, and it affected him pretty badly.” Neji nodded.

Ino’s heart sank. She had been trying not to think about that. Thinking back to before her current mission, she didn’t recall ever seeing any hints of him having feelings for her, but even the people around her knew about this? _I must be really blind if even Tenten and Neji knew and I didn’t._ However, she wasn’t here to find out Shikamaru’s feelings for her; she was looking for incriminating evidence.

The rest of the memory had Takeru giving Tenten and Neji a hint of what they were looking for, but it had to do with getting stolen information back, not getting information out, so Ino let the memory go. None of his other memories had what she was looking for, so she started to withdraw from his mind. Just as she was pulling back to herself, something grabbed her consciousness and started to squeeze it. Later, that was the only way she could describe it. It felt like something was compressing her into a steadily decreasing volume, and she felt like she was going to explode. Struggling, she tried to break free, but whatever had her was too strong. It wasn’t Takeru; she could feel her jutsu still in place. Feeling around, she found a faint trace of an unfamiliar Hyuuga signature. _The other one! I thought he was down for the count._ She cursed herself for not placing him under a similar jutsu. In a desperate last attempt, she pulled away from her bonds and she felt something snap. Whatever held her backlashed against the other Hyuuga, and she returned to her own body. The one remaining clone had rescued her body and taken it to the safety of the trees and it disappeared when she came to herself.

It wasn’t a happy reunion. Her body felt like it was on fire and she was exhausted. From her perch in the leafy foliage, she saw that both Hyuuga were still down. _I’d better take this opportunity to get away,_ she thought. She jumped down to the ground, expecting to land on her feet. She did land on her feet, but her legs immediately crumpled beneath her, and she fell in a heap. _What just happened?_ she thought, shocked. She tried to get up, but her legs didn’t want to cooperate. Using a low branch, she pulled herself up and was surprised by how drained she felt. After a quick examination of herself, she gasped. _He drained my chakra!_ Whatever the Hyuuga had done at the end had taken all the chakra in Ino’s body and left her chakra nodes inflamed. Thanks to Ino’s medical training, she knew that it would be weeks before she would have enough chakra built up to continue her mission. With a groan, she forced her right leg forward and started the trek out of the Hyuuga clan’s land. When she got back to the well-traveled paths in Konoha, she made herself walk like normal. If the Hyuuga clan started looking for injured people, she didn’t want to give them a reason to look at her.

The route back to her apartment took her past the Hokage Tower, and when she glanced up at one of the open windows, she caught a glimpse of Lochia-dono. The woman looked tired and concerned. From listening to people talk around Konoha, Lochia-dono was part of the council of war and helped decide where to employ the troops. The responsibility of those decisions looked like they weighed heavily on the slight woman’s shoulders. By her side, the king looked no better.

Walking back to her apartment, she noticed that someone had fallen in step with her. When she looked to the right, she almost froze. Just as she looked at her companion, so did Shin, and they both had similar, surprised looks on their faces. “What are you doing?” The words left Ino’s mouth before she could stop them. The shock almost made her forget her pain.

He looked uncomfortable. “I’m going home. What about you?”

“I’m going home, too.” They kept walking in awkward silence and it got more awkward when they arrived at Ino’s apartment complex and Shin didn’t keep going. “I thought you were going back to the inn,” said Ino.

He matched her step for step. “I live here,” he replied. “Sano said that I was assigned this place.” He stopped two doors before Ino’s apartment. “Well, this is it,” he told his door, not looking at Ino. “I’ll be here if you need me.” He paused, then with an obvious effort to act nonchalant, he asked, “How are things with your shinobi man?”

At first Ino didn’t know what he was talking about, but then she remembered her lie to him before. “Oh, we’re…doing fine. Just fine. He was deployed to the front lines recently, so now I have to wait for him to come back.” It was vague enough to cover all bases and so many people were sent out recently that her explanation was quite plausible.

“I hope things work out for you.” The pain he was trying to hide and failing to do so made Ino’s chest ache for him. She hated herself for putting him through this, no matter how necessary it was. With one last nod at her, he slipped through the doorway of his apartment.

It took Ino a few seconds after he shut his door to continue on to her apartment. Leaning against the door, she let her head fall back, and she sighed. “Why?” she asked aloud to the empty room. _Why is he so close? He could’ve stayed at the inn with the rest of the troupe._

When Mika came through the door later with Sayo, Ino told her about Shin. “Yeah, he moved closer to help me,” said Mika, completely unsurprised. “He won’t say so out loud, but I can tell that he misses Sayo.” Looking at Ino, Mika asked, “Did something happen between you two? I can cut the tension with a knife when you two are near each other.”

Ino told her friend what had happened, and by the end, she was crying on Mika’s lap while the woman sat down on the couch. On her right, Sayo and her rabbit hugged Ino’s side. “There, there,” soothed Mika, stroking Ino’s brown hair. “It’ll be okay. You still have us and I know that Shin will bounce back to his old self soon.”

Ino couldn’t speak. _Why is it so hard to have no emotions?_ she wailed on the inside. _I tried to be a good shinobi, but I can’t help hurting when I see him. I should be focusing on my mission, but instead here I am crying over a boy, just like when I was a teenager._

All the physical and emotional stress must have affected Ino more than she realized because the last thing she remembered was crying on Mika’s lap, and when she came to herself again, the sun was starting to lighten the window. Sitting up was a struggle, and she looked down and saw that she was in her own bed, so she must have somehow made it back in. Her body still felt weak and strangely warm, considering that spring was just starting to come and the heat didn’t stay inside without a constant fire. A chair sat by her bedside and it looked like it belonged out in the living room. _Why do I have this chair in my room?_ she wondered. _There’s no need to have another chair in here. I have one already._ Looking over at the far wall, she jumped back. _Why are Syaoran and Sakura here?_

The two young people were asleep next to her wall. Sakura sat in the chair, her head resting on her arms on the desk, and Syaoran had his back against the wall. Now Ino was very confused. _Why didn’t I hear them come in? Why are they even here? Did something happen to Mika or Sayo in the night?_ Her blood ran cold, and she tried to jump out of bed, but a rush of vertigo forced her to fall back on the bed.

Her door opened, and she saw Fye and Kurogane enter the room. Fye held a bowl of hot water and had a small towel draped over his shoulder. Kurogane looked concerned, but the blond man next to him appeared to be as cheerful as always. When he saw that Ino was awake, Fye’s face broke out in a grin. “I’m glad you decided to join us,” he said, sitting down in the vacant chair and putting the bowl of water on her nightstand. “You had us worried.”

“What? What happened?” Ino didn’t remember doing anything that would worry them. Spilling her soul to Mika and breaking down in the middle of it was a sad experience, but not worrying. She also didn’t hurt as much as she thought she would, considering all her chakra was drained from her body yesterday except the bare minimum to keep her vitals running.

“Mika came running to us yesterday and said that you were burning up with a fever,” Fye answered her. “When we got back to the apartment, you were delusional and would have attacked us if Kuro-tan hadn’t restrained you. Your roommate was worried enough that she wanted to rush you to the hospital, but Misao put a stop to that.” The two men exchanged glances and the wizard continued. “We’ve been keeping an eye on you since then. Mika’s been here, but we tried to keep her out as much as possible. What happened that caused you to get in that state, if I may ask?”

Ino gave him a brief summary of what had happened while processing this new information. “I’m sorry to be such a burden to you,” she finished. “You have my thanks. The medic-nin would have recognized my symptoms, and then everything would have been blown to pieces.”

“You take too much on yourself,” said Fye. “You are destroying your body by doing everything on your own. Surely there is someone here who can help you with what you are doing. Kuro-pippi and I won’t always be in the right spot at the right time.”

Ino smiled at him, though even that small movement was painful. “I will see what I can do.” Would she rely more on Chouji now because of his pep talk? Not at all. He had his own concerns, and this was her mission. Beyond Chouji, there was no one else she could turn to.

Later on in the day, Mika and Sayo came in to see her. Kurogane’s group withdrew while the two women talked. Mika still looked worried even when Ino assured her that she was feeling much better and it was just a random illness that had struck her down and it was taken care of now. She did believe that her moment of weakness was over, and she would act like normal while her chakra pathways rebuilt themselves, so she was surprised to see Fye and Kurogane troop into her room again that night. “I’m fine,” she protested when Kurogane sat her down on the chair by the bed while Fye went out into the kitchen to make some soup for her and refill her water cup. “You don’t have to watch over me tonight.”

“We’re making sure,” answered the dark-haired shinobi.

“I’ll be fine, I promise.”

They didn’t listen, though that didn’t surprise Ino. Even days after she recovered enough to walk around Konoha, they still visited. Ino thought that it was odd they spent so much time with her when they had an agenda of their own to follow. However, they made food for her, Mika, and Sayo, so she didn’t complain.

Ino still wasn’t able to work at the hospital, but she could function properly on her own in Konoha, so she was thinking of returning to work. Kurogane happened to be the one sitting next to her while Fye, Mika, and Sayo were out in the kitchen preparing that evening’s dinner. “It’s taking so long to get back to the way I was,” she complained as she tallied some numbers up. They were running low on funds; she would need to work again soon whether she felt ready or not.

Kurogane snorted. “You are just impatient,” he admonished her, tapping the top of her head lightly with the hilt of his sword. “Injuries take time to heal, no matter what kind of injury it is.”

“But I can’t get on with my job if I can’t use my chakra.”

His crimson eyes met her brown ones. “I overheard someone talking about the man you’ve been watching,” he said, his voice pitched low so that Mika wouldn’t hear from the next room. “He’s back in Konoha, but he’s injured.”

Ino glanced sharply at him. “Shikamaru’s hurt? When did he get back? How bad are his injuries?” She kept her voice as low as his.

Kurogane held up a hand to stem the flow of questions. “He is in the hospital right now, but his defenses are down. I don’t know what you want him for and I don’t want to know, but I thought you should know.” He paused. “What the wizard told you before is right; you are killing yourself by not having a partner. I don’t care what reason you have, but you have to find someone to help you or you are going to fail.” He knew she wouldn’t ask more of Chouji. The shinobi before her could read her intentions and thoughts just from how she held herself, it seemed.

“Kurogane, I can’t. If I could, I would, but this is something that only I can do.”

Leaning back in his chair, the man looked her up and down and shook his head. “You won’t make it at this rate. As your sensei, I know your breaking points, and you will reach one very soon. This right here,” he gestured toward her, “is nothing compared to what will happen when you run your body into the ground. You need to rely on a team to complete a mission and have a chance at staying intact.”

Ino wanted to respond, but the other houseguests called them to eat. Throughout dinner, Ino thought about Kurogane’s lecture. _I can’t tell the best person to help me,_ she mused as she fed Sayo her cut and cooked broccoli. _I know what Dad’s like when he drinks, and he would tell Shikaku and Chouza. No, that won’t work. Chouji knows; he’s been helping me when he can. Does he really think that Chouji can help more than he already has? Can I afford to rely on him more when he has to worry about his Genin too?_

“Hikari!”

“What?” Ino jerked her head up. “What was that?”

“Have you listened to a word I said?” asked Mika in exasperation.

“Sorry, I guess my attention wandered. What’s going on?”

“I found out that Shikamaru, the man who helped me, is back, but he’s in the hospital. I’m going to go see him tomorrow. Would you come with me?”

Ino nodded. The other woman looked so nervous. How could Ino say no without a valid reason? “I can, but I’ll be put to work if I go in there and they see me. They need help caring for the soldiers and shinobi from the front lines.”

The rest of the table talked while Ino continued to mull over the advice Kurogane had given her, and she was still weighing her options when she and Mika mounted the stairs leading to the hall where Shikamaru was being kept. According to the nurse, he had been in bad shape when they brought him in, but thanks to the efforts of the medic-nin on call still at the hospital and enforced rest, the strategist was doing much better. By her side, Ino noticed that Mika held a basket of bread that Mika had baked for Shikamaru, and her knuckles were white against the tan wicker. The woman was nervous to her bones, and Ino was glad that she was the one holding Sayo and not Mika. If something was going to be dropped, she would rather it be the basket of bread.

To Ino’s amusement, Shikamaru looked like he had been poleaxed when they walked into the room. He had been cloud-gazing from the hospital window, and he turned when they entered. Ino saw his eyes go directly to Mika’s face, and his expression changed from neutral boredom to surprise. Mika, seeing his expression, hesitated, but Ino pushed her forward. “Um, I brought you this,” stuttered Mika, blushing and setting the basket on the nightstand. “We heard that you were here, so we came to visit.”

Now Ino stepped forward so she was even with her blond friend. “I know this isn’t the right thing to say, but you look better than when you left here,” she said. It was true, he did. He was still thin, but his cheeks had filled out so that they weren’t hollow, though his eyes still had the dark shadows underneath them. His hair was not in its usual ponytail, but it looked healthy and glossy. Those weren’t words she usually attributed to a man’s hair, but it did shine with a healthy glow in the hospital lighting.

Shikamaru snorted at her comment. “That’s because you only see my top half,” he returned. “They fixed what they could, but they don’t have the chakra to waste to heal everything, so my leg will have to heal on its own.” He gestured down to his left leg. “At least they were able to reattach it.”

Reattach it? No one said anything about Shikamaru having his leg blown off. “You won’t be able to fight like that,” gasped Ino, horrified at the revelation. “They can’t send you back to the front lines with a bad leg.”

“They won’t,” he agreed, settling back against his pillows. “I was told earlier that they need me here for strategy planning, so I won’t be going back out for a while. Chouji said he would look out for my Genin while I’m out of commission.” That last part was for Ino since she was pretty sure that Mika wouldn’t remember who Chouji was or what Genin were.

The women didn’t stay for long. Sayo needed to be taken care of and Ino needed to rest. The lack of chakra messed with her other abilities as well, such as her ability to stay awake or stand for long periods of time. She never realized that it would be this bad, and she vowed that she would never let it happen again if she could help it. She couldn’t even carry Sayo back to the apartment. When they were a quarter of the way back, she let the little girl down so she could stretch her arms. Spring was well on its way, and greenery was pushing through the snow. Sayo squatted down next to a patch of grass around a fence post, and it amused Ino to see a group from the troupe copying the toddler in a different area.

When they arrived back at the apartment, Ino sank into a chair while Mika busied herself getting food for Sayo. “Shikamaru’s going to need help even after he’s out of the hospital,” commented Mika as she sat Sayo down next to Ino. The little girl smiled up at Ino and giggled, making the kunoichi smile back at her. “I’m going to help him,” Sayo’s mother continued.

Ino brought her attention back to Mika. “And how are you going to do that?” she asked. “You have a daughter to take care of.”

“She’ll come with me,” answered Mika, matter-of-fact. “He won’t be able to get around easily since his leg’s going to need time to heal, but I can cook for him and keep his house clean while he’s planning with the Hokage.”

She almost laughed at the image. Shikamaru sitting on a chair and staring in horror as Mika scolded him for not having food in his refrigerator and Sayo running around and knocking books off tables and bookcases came to her mind’s eye. “Mika,” she started, “why don’t I take care of him instead?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re still recovering from your illness, Hikari,” Mika protested. “You need to rest yourself.”

“I don’t think that cooking for him will overtax me,” she assured her. “Besides, I don’t think a bachelor would appreciate having a young child suddenly underfoot all the time.”

They argued about it, but in the end, Ino won. Mika couldn’t deny that bringing Sayo would not make an environment that was conducive to recovering, and Ino pretended that she had more stamina than she actually did. The only reason she thought she could get away with it was because Shikamaru was a lazy person as it was, and he would spend a lot of time sleeping, which meant she wouldn’t have to pretend to have energy she didn’t possess. And she knew that the hospital would need to send someone to watch out for him until he made a full recovery, so she could help him for Mika and get paid while doing it. Just to be clear, it wasn’t that Ino relished the idea of taking care of her teammate. Her reasoning was if his injury lasted long enough, she might generate enough chakra to do a mind search on him. Even if she didn’t, creating an opportunity at a later date would be much easier if she had a bond with him in place.

The head nurse was all too eager to let her volunteer for home assistant duty, and when Shikamaru was discharged from the hospital the following evening, Ino was waiting at the front to take him back. Someone must have told him about her because he didn’t even bat an eye when she followed him into his apartment, setting his belongings by the couch. The shinobi used his crutch as a support as he sank down onto a chair. He studied Ino as she lay back against the cushions on the couch and panted; she was beginning to dislike the Hyuuga clan more and more for making her feel like this. “One of the regular nurses can do this,” the man stated.

Rolling her head over to face him, Ino opened an eye. “Mika is determined to look after you because of what you’ve done for her, but because she has a young child, I came instead of her. And I work in the hospital, and this is the job they assigned me.” No need to tell him that she volunteered for the position. That wouldn’t look suspicious at all.

He looked like he wanted to argue, but, being the lazy person he was, he let it go with a muttered, “Troublesome,” under his breath.

~*~

Thus started Ino’s new routine. Because the hospital granted her the title of home assistant, she didn’t have to worry about reporting in at the hospital unless she had to pick up Shikamaru’s painkillers and other medication. When she ran into Kagura at the grocery store, the other woman told her that she and Shin split the responsibility of watching Sayo at night due to Mika’s night job. Ino felt a pang at not being included, but then her argument for Mika not looking after Shikamaru would have been shot right out of the water. She did wonder why Mika hadn’t mentioned it to her. Ino still saw the other woman on occasion when she was done taking care of Shikamaru for the day, but Ino was usually too tired to stay up and chat.

For a man whose leg was just reattached, Shikamaru was a busy bee. After she made breakfast for the two of them and made him eat with her, he would send messenger pigeons to the Hokage Tower with missives about the war. He wasn’t able to walk all the way to the Tower yet, so his only way of communication with the leaders was by pigeon. To Ino’s shock, he had tried hobbling out the door to meet with them the day after he was discharged from the hospital. He had been surprised by how easily she had stopped him from going; the look on his face when he sat back down by his window said it all. She hadn’t shown how much just that confrontation had taken out of her. After the first attempt, he just sat by the window with his shogi board, pen, paper, and letters he received from the Hokage Tower from Hokage-sama and the royal family of Water Country. Very rarely did he acknowledge her presence as she performed basic domestic chores around the apartment and took small naps on his couch.

Ino felt more like a personal maid than a home assistant most of the time. He refused her help getting around the apartment, so all that was left for her to do was act as a housekeeper. When she saw how much laundry had piled up, she muttered dark curses at him under her breath. The rooms were easy to clean; he hardly lived in them, so not much clutter accumulated, though it helped that he didn’t own enough things to become clutter. The refrigerator, as she suspected, had little food. The bottle of orange juice was half-empty and the head of lettuce in the bottom drawer had completely wilted. The shelves had suspicious brown marks on them, so Ino pushed up her sleeves and cleaned the entire refrigerator and freezer. The utility sparkled by the time she was done with it, but of course Shikamaru didn’t even notice the work she had put into it. For the most part, he ignored her presence unless she forced it on him, but that suited her just fine. It gave her plenty of opportunities for catnaps throughout the day.

The morning sun peeked over the horizon as Ino walked from her apartment to Shikamaru’s. It wasn’t far, but she had to take it slowly or else be out of breath by the time she arrived at his doorstep. She bought groceries yesterday, so all she had to do was prepare food for the two of them, then stand over him until he ate. _How did he survive before?_ she wondered, stepping around a half-melted puddle on the ground. _As far as I know, he’s always lived by himself after he moved out of the Nara compound. Does he live on soldier pills?_ She shuddered. Those things were dangerous, very dangerous when too many were consumed in too short a time period. The Academy had several lectures on the dangers of soldier pills, it was that important. Back then, Shikamaru was too lazy to pay attention, so she wouldn’t put it past him to have slept through all of those lectures.

Drawing the spare key she had made from her bag, she let herself into Shikamaru’s apartment and called, “I’m coming in.”

No answer followed, but she didn’t expect one. _Either he’s still sleeping, which is very likely,_ she thought to herself, _or else he’s ignoring me._

It was still early, so it surprised Ino to see Shikamaru at the kitchen table already, papers, pens, and maps spread all around him just like last night. “Good morning,” she said after she recovered. “I didn’t expect you to be up already.”

The only response she received was a grunt. As Ino waited for the oven to heat up, she turned to study Shikamaru as he studied the papers in front of him. He had lines under his eyes again, and he was squinting at the papers in front of him. Ink-smudged fingers moved shogi pieces around the board next to him. Her eyes narrowed and her fingers tapped against one of her crossed arms. “Nara-san, did you go to bed last night?” Never in her life did she think she would have to ask him that, but he didn’t look rested at all. When she didn’t receive an answer, she walked over to him and put her hand right over the paper he was referencing, making him glare up at her. She matched it with one of her own. “Did you sleep last night?” she repeated.

“There’s no time,” he snapped. “We have a war going on and more people will stay alive if I can get these plans ready.”

“Those plans will mean nothing if you keel over and cannot complete them,” returned Ino. “Your job is to keep people alive and whole, and _my_ job is to keep _you_ alive and whole.” She glanced down at the table. He already had several alternative plans prepared and she knew that he sent some to Hokage-sama yesterday before she left. “You have done your job, now let me do mine.”

He tried to push her away, but she slid away from his hand and used his momentum to pull him out of his chair. “Send these to Hokage-sama once you have slept for a little. Your leg won’t heal if you don’t sleep,” Ino reminded him. “Here, it’s time for your injection anyway.”

His painkiller would make him drowsy, so once she shot him up, he’d be out like a light for at least a few hours. As he showered and changed, she sat on his bed with the syringe and looked around his room. It looked the same as before, though the shelves had a few more books on them and he had a new picture frame by his bed. Kneeling by the nightstand, she examined the picture more closely and smiled. There was Shikamaru with a faint smile on his face, and in front of him were two very exuberant Genin and one withdrawn Genin. Kureha and Sou were grinning at the camera for all they were worth, and Tohru stood slightly back, his coat and sunglasses hiding any expression he might have had on his face. It made Ino reminisce about her own Genin picture; it seemed so long ago.

She heard the bathroom door open, and she turned to see Shikamaru standing in the doorway, steam from the bathroom washing over him. “Are you ready?” she asked, standing and picking up the syringe. She also held out a small painkiller pill for him to swallow.

He gave her a sour look and looked away even as he accepted the pill and swallowed it. He hated the injection. Even though he didn’t say anything, Ino knew her teammate, and the shot administration made him uncomfortable. To be honest, it made her uncomfortable, too, to be doing that to her teammate. To help facilitate the speedy recovery of his leg, she had to inject the medication into him fairly close to the spot where they reattached his leg. Normal people would not be able to use a limb that had been severed and reattached because the nerves would not grow back together, so the muscles wouldn’t receive any stimulation to contract or relax, but shinobi medicine had made a breakthrough not too long ago that utilized the chakra channels to make the nerves join together again. However, this medication needed to be administered as close to the site of injury as possible so the reaction was specific instead of becoming generalized.

Ino knelt by his left side as he rolled up the leg of his boxers. Even though she wasn’t looking at him, the kunoichi knew that Shikamaru was staring with undue intensity at the window. She didn’t blame him; it was an intramuscular injection, so the needle looked long enough to go right through his leg. It was only thanks to long hours of training under Shizune and Hokage-sama that Ino’s hand stayed steady as she inserted the needle into his leg. A quick glance showed that he had broken into a cold sweat and his face looked pale. It was almost comical. Here stood a shinobi who had faced incredible odds without blinking with weapons that hurt worse than this, but when faced with a needle that was smaller than the senbon, he reacted just like a civilian patient.

As Ino withdrew the needle, stuck an adhesive bandage over the hole to prevent bleeding, and administered another short-acting painkiller that did not require such a large needle, her eyes traced the line where his leg had been reattached. _They really did a great job,_ she thought as she removed the second needle and covered it also. _I can’t even see where they reattached it._ Curious, she ran a finger over where the line should have been, right where his leg met his hip. She couldn’t even feel a ridge; that was even more impressive. No healing scars, so he would be good as new once he re-grew his leg nerves. His leg still looked healthy and had great definition. He wouldn’t have to train for long before it would be up to par with his right leg again.

His leg muscles quivered under her finger, and she looked up again. Shikamaru was still looking at the window, but a blush rested on his cheeks, and Ino realized what she had been doing. _I was practically molesting him!_ she thought, her whole face turning red in horror. She had been touching him very close to a very intimate area, and her actions were inappropriate, no matter how curious she was. “I-I’m so sorry,” she stammered as the man let his boxers fall to cover his thigh again. “I’ve never seen a leg attached so well. Not that I’ve seen any before this…” she trailed off. “I’ll let you sleep now.” She pulled back the top covers of his bed, noticing that the blanket she had given him was once again on his bed.

“Don’t worry about it,” she heard him mutter as she rushed past him towards the door. Sparing one last look behind her before closing the door, she saw him climb into bed looking very embarrassed. So not only did she embarrass herself, she embarrassed her patient also. _That’s just great,_ she thought. _He’ll think I’m trying to molest him whenever I touch him now._ That was an extreme case, but something similar had happened at the hospital when Ino was still in training, and the nurse involved had to be switched because the patient was too agitated to let the nurse do her job.

_Why did I do that?_ Ino asked herself as she glanced through the plans Shikamaru had left on the table. The completed ones she set aside so she would remember to send them to Hokage-sama when the messenger pigeon returned. _I know better than to touch someone like that. How can I face him again?_ She buried her face in her hands. _Do I apologize again? Do I act normal and pretend it never happened? What if he tells Chouji?_ She groaned aloud. _Chouji would roll over laughing if he found out._

Ino was still agonizing over what to do when Shikamaru woke up and stumbled out of his room several hours later. She was preparing vegetables to go into a soup and almost ran into him when she turned around. “Oh, Nara-san, you’re up,” she exclaimed as she tried to regain her balance against the open refrigerator door.

As was his custom, his only response was a half grunt of acknowledgement. Such a small thing, and considered rude by most, including Ino, but in this one instance, it warmed her on the inside. If he had reacted any other way, it would have signaled that something had changed between them, but this response showed her that he was going to treat her the same way he always did. The rush of relief surprised her, though. It was almost like it would have been the end of the world if he’d been uncomfortable around her. _That can’t be right,_ she told herself as she returned her attention back to the vegetables on the counter. _I’m just glad that things are okay between us. As long as I’m still friends with Chouji, I still would’ve seen him if things had turned out differently._ It didn’t stop the relieved feeling spreading through her body and making her limbs weak.


	12. Chapter 12

Over the next few days, Ino noted how Shikamaru first looked when she walked in the door in the morning, and she noticed that usually he was in the same position at the kitchen table that he was when she left the night before. That was unacceptable! He wasn’t even trying to hide that he wasn’t sleeping like she told him to as she left for the day. Even her scolding didn’t do anything other than earn her a muttered, “Troublesome,” for her effort. “It’s driving me crazy!” she exclaimed as she poured her problems out to Mika while the young mother bathed Sayo. The ever-faithful bunny braved the soapy waters with the child and endured lots of splashing.

“What else can you do?” responded Mika, who was up to her elbows in water and fluffy soap mountains. “He’s a grown man.”

Ino growled. “He is also my patient, and he won’t get better if he keeps running his body this hard. He’ll collapse, and then it won’t be just his leg that’s in trouble. Unless I force sleeping pills down his throat before leaving, I can’t make sure he sleeps. Unless…” A light bulb clicked in her mind. “I’ll extend my hours. I just won’t leave until I make sure he goes to bed.”

Mika’s green eyes looked at Ino with worry. “He is a busy man,” she started. “It might be late by the time that happens. Will you be alright walking back by yourself? Maybe Shin will walk with you–”

“No! I’ll be fine,” Ino added. “I haven’t heard of a lot of crime in Konoha. Besides, we’re in the shinobi district. Who would be crazy enough to mug one of them?” It was the same reason she worried about Mika working at night, but unlike Mika, Ino was a full-fledged kunoichi and could take care of herself should someone think to attack her.

After assuring Mika that she would be fine, Ino decided to implement her plan the next day. Sure enough, her teammate was once again at the table when she entered his apartment and wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday. Sighing, she put her bag on the chair in his living room and got to work on the laundry. The scent of laundry detergent was not as soothing as the flowery aroma of her parents’ flower shop, but it relaxed her. She would never admit this to anyone, but she found that she enjoyed doing domestic chores when she got back from missions. It was a way to center herself again, to calm her nerves so she wasn’t always on guard when she came back home.

The day wore on, and the time Ino usually left approached. Instead of loading Shikamaru’s dishwasher after dinner, Ino washed the dishes by hand to have something to do while the minutes ticked by. Nine o’clock arrived, and Ino put the last dish into the cupboard she had rearranged on her first day as home assistant. Glancing at the table, she saw that Shikamaru showed no sign of slowing his writing. Today had been a busy day at the Hokage Tower, judging from the amount of pigeons that had arrived. A quick scan of the table as she brought out lunch earlier showed that not only was Shikamaru making plans for the war, he was also assigning missions for some of the other shinobi in the village so that Hokage-sama could focus solely on the war with the two monarchs. However, he had been working non-stop, and it was time to rest! The three-hour nap he had taken after the injection was not enough to rest his body. Sliding into the chair opposite Shikamaru’s, Ino cleared her throat. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough for today?” she asked.

He didn’t look up from his writing. “Isn’t it time for you to go?” He answered her question with a rude question of his own.

Ino bit back a sharp reply. He was a patient, and one couldn’t snap at a patient, even if one wanted to and the patient gave a very good reason to. “I have a job to do, and you are preventing me from doing it, Nara-san. If you don’t go to sleep, then I can’t say that I’m doing my job of taking care of you.”

“I also have a job to do.” He blew on the paper to speed the drying process and placed it on the stack of finished plans to send to Hokage-sama the next morning. “And I can’t go to bed until it’s done.”

With quick reflexes, Ino snatched the inkpot away from Shikamaru before he could dip his brush again. She met his glare with equal heat in her own gaze. “You have done enough,” she told him, standing. Setting the inkpot on the counter next to the sink and out of reach of the genius, she pulled him out of his chair and herded him to his bedroom. Despite his earlier words, he didn’t put up a fight, or else Ino wouldn’t have been able to get him that far. “You can get up early tomorrow, but right now is the time for sleep, Nara-san.”

He sighed like this was a huge burden to him. “It’s Shikamaru,” he said. “You don’t need to be so formal with me, Ishigawa-san.”

Smiling, Ino nodded. “Then it’s just Hikari, Shikamaru. Sleep well.” She gave him a gentle push toward his door, ignoring his mutters.

Did she trust that he would just obey and stay in there because she told him so? Not at all. She would have to treat this as a stake-out of sorts, at least for a few days, until she knew that he knew she meant business. Striding to his table, she stacked his unfinished plans and set them off to the side as a deterrent from getting up in the middle of the night and jumping right to work. The harder she made this, the less likely the lazy man would be to continue working instead of sleeping. As she glanced over the finished plans that she stacked in a different corner of the table, some of them seemed odd to her. _Why would he want to do it this way?_ she wondered. It didn’t make sense when compared to most of the other plans. Studying the papers in her hand, she frowned. _This would leave the way wide open for the enemy to get behind our lines._ The plans had subtle flaws in them that she only caught because she worked with Shikamaru so much during their Genin and even Chuunin years. Surely he wasn’t done with these, leaving so many weak points that the enemy could smash through, but it had his scrawled signature in the bottom right corner of the paper along with the stamp that meant this was a completed plan. It seemed like a mistake, and she almost pulled those few papers out of the stack to ask him about it tomorrow, but she decided against it and left them in the pile. After all, why would a civilian nurse know anything about this type of planning? If he thought they were ready, then she wasn’t going to gainsay that. A quick wipe with a soapy sponge erased most of the ink spots staining the top of the table. Easing herself onto the couch, she picked up the book she had brought with her and started to read. _I’m not going to stay too long,_ she told herself as she opened to the chapter where she had left off. _Just long enough to make sure that he goes to sleep._

Somehow one hour turned into two, then three, and when the sun shone through Shikamaru’s apartment windows, its rays fell on a sleeping Ino, her book on the floor. The light made her scrunch her eyes and start to stir. When her arm came in contact with the back of the couch while she stretched, her eyes snapped open, and she sat straight up. “Oh,” she murmured, looking around. “Oh no.” _I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Mika will be worried about me._ Quietly walking to Shikamaru’s bedroom door, she listened for his slow breathing. Once she assured herself that he was still deeply asleep, she collected her shoes and snuck out the front door. It was still early, only six-thirty in the morning, so Ino hoped to have time for a quick shower, then get back to Shikamaru’s apartment. This time, though, she was bringing an extra pair of clothes. Not that she planned on sleeping over at his apartment on a regular basis, but she didn’t want to be caught like this again.

When she reached her apartment and let herself inside, she found a worried-looking Mika sitting on the couch. She jumped up as soon as Ino stepped through the door. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” Mika barraged her with questions, not giving her time to answer.

“Mika, I’m fine,” Ino assured her as she slipped out of her boots. “I fell asleep before I could leave. I’m sorry I worried you. Next time, I’ll send you a message so you’ll know where I am.”

“Please do, I was so worried that something had happened to you.” Poor Mika looked like she hadn’t gotten any sleep. She probably hadn’t. In fact, it appeared that she missed going to work because of her worry for Ino.

Ino hurried through her shower, and soon she found herself back at Shikamaru’s apartment, this time with spare clothes in her bag. “I’m here,” she called softly just in case he wasn’t up yet. A glance in the kitchen told her that all was the same as she had left it two hours previous. Going back to his door, she listened and heard the same deep pattern of breathing. Shaking her head, she sighed and went back to the couch. “Poor guy didn’t know how tired his body was,” she murmured to herself. On a normal day, she would start out making breakfast for him, but that breathing pattern told her that he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. If she made him something, it would go cold.

When noon rolled around and the shadow-user still wasn’t out of bed, Ino started weighing her options. On one hand, she was pleased that he was sleeping since his body was starved of the rest it needed. On the other hand, Konoha was running a war, and he was the head strategist. Glancing at the table where his papers lay stacked, she debated sending the finished ones to Hokage-sama. It would help him out, and she wouldn’t have to bother him for a little while longer. However, she didn’t know if he was done with them or wanted to add something to any of them, and as a home assistant, it wasn’t her place to concern herself with the shinobi world beyond stitching them up when they needed it.

Somewhere behind her a door opened, and when she turned around, a bleary-eyed Shikamaru stumbled out of the hallway and into his chair by the table. “Good morning,” she greeted him. “Did you sleep well?”

He grunted but didn’t acknowledge her beyond that. His eyes remained unfocused, and he hadn’t bothered to pull his hair back. Combined with other signs, Ino deduced he was closer to sleepwalking than being awake and cognizant of his actions. Filling his coffeepot and setting it to heat, she started her preparations for their lunch since he missed breakfast.

Once she got some coffee into him, Shikamaru shook off his stupor and started on his work again. Ino didn’t have much to do aside from the small amount of dusting she hadn’t finished, so she spent most of her time sitting on the couch and watching her childhood friend work. Based on the set of his shoulders, she could gauge how much pain he was in, whether or not he realized he was in pain. At the time she had to administer the injection, she stopped his work and made him go through with it even though he insisted that he wasn’t in pain and he could move his leg on his own now. He wasn’t a great patient, but at least he didn’t fight her when she did her job.

That night, around the time Ino was supposed to go home, she stopped his work again. “But I got a late start today,” he protested when she started moving his papers away from him. “I need to get these done.”

Ino ignored him and got him out of the chair again. “These aren’t needed until next week,” she told him. “Once you get on a good sleep schedule, you’ll wake up early and get a good start earlier than today, but for now, I want you to focus on resting so your leg recovers faster.”

This time she knew he wouldn’t listen. About a half hour after she shooed him to bed, his door opened, and he tried slipping into the kitchen, but Ino caught him before he could make it out of the hall. “Why are you still here?” squawked Shikamaru as she pushed him back through the door. “I thought you left already.”

“This is why I’m still here.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Go to sleep, Shikamaru,” she ordered. “I can’t go home while I worry about you not sleeping.” He still looked rebellious. “Do you want me to wake you when I get here?” she offered.

He gave her one last glare and shut the door. Several more times he tried to get back to his work, but Ino thwarted each attempt. However, the last one was at one in the morning, and Ino was dying for sleep. Waking one of the sleeping pigeons, she wrote a quick message to Mika and sent it on its way, too tired to think that the pigeon didn’t know where her apartment was. Throwing herself on the couch and wishing for her own bed, she closed her eyes.

When she woke up the next morning, Shikamaru was already at the table with his head buried in the newest missive from Hokage-sama. Without turning around, Shikamaru told her, “You can use my shower instead of going back if you don’t feel like braving the storm.”

What she had thought was the heater kicked up a notch, and the windows looked like someone was throwing buckets of slush against them. A violent wind blew a broken branch into the window as Ino looked at it, startling her. As she attempted to recover from her scare and slow her racing heart, she turned back to Shikamaru. “Thank you,” she said with much sincerity. That cold wind appeared strong enough to knock her contacts right off her eyes, and the sleet would make her hair lighten much faster than she wanted. Mornings when she had to re-dye her hair were the worst! Even with perfume and washing with the special rose-scented shampoo, the smell lingered in Ino’s nose throughout the day.

That storm was the first of a line of storms that hit Konoha off and on for days. People scurried to their next destination in the small breaks between storms, so the roads of the city were congested with people hurrying to the next place and people who lost their balance and skidded around on the icy roads. It was not conducive to traveling, and Ino found herself staying at Shikamaru’s instead of returning to her apartment. She checked in every once in a while, but the roads were just too dangerous for her to want to brave them every evening, especially since everything was iced over, and it was so easy to lose her balance and hurt herself. With her chakra levels still so low, she couldn’t heal herself if she became injured.

The storms made it impossible for Shikamaru and Hokage-sama to send carrier pigeons to each other, so the shadow-user had a large stack of plans sitting on his table and no way of getting them to Hokage-sama unless she sent one of her minions. Ino often saw him glaring out his window at the swirling sleet as though the heat of his gaze alone would melt a path for his pigeons, but the sleet remained unimpressed. He seemed to make plans less and less and glare out the window more and more as the storms kept up.

The ice storms ended the growth of greenery in preparation of spring. The weather grew chill, and everyone had to bundle up in extra layers again. Even with a fire roaring in the fireplace, Ino kept her sweaters on unless she was doing housework. Shikamaru, she noticed, kept his legs covered with her blanket when he sat at the table to work and took it back to bed again when Ino herded him away from his work at the end of the day. That poor blanket had seen better days, and it was beginning to look threadbare in some spots.

When the newest storm subsided later that afternoon, Ino decided to once again go back to her apartment to make sure Mika and Sayo were okay. Shikamaru stopped her as she put her hand on the doorknob. “I’m going home to my family’s compound,” he said. “I need to talk with my father about some of these plans, so you don’t need to come here for a while.”

“What about your shots?” He was able to move his leg, which meant the nerves had reconnected, but he still needed a painkiller for a while longer.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her, an annoyed look on his face. “I won’t be gone long. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know when I’m back, so don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I don’t know where you live. I can stop by your place on my way back here.”

He could, but would he? If he let a few days go by without telling her, then he wouldn’t have someone acting like his mother standing over him for that period of time. She wouldn’t put it past him to do that. But she had no choice and only nodded before she let herself out the door. She didn’t want to miss the break in the weather because she waited too long to leave.

After navigating the crowded and slippery roads, she slid in front of her door and had to grab the doorknob to stop herself from shooting past it. Ino narrowly avoided falling on her face as she took the step from outside to inside. A curse sprang to her lips, but she held it in; she did not want to be the one to teach Sayo to swear. “Mika?” she called. “I made it back.”

No one answered, so Ino squared her shoulders and slipped and slid to Shin’s door a few yards away. It wasn’t a visit she wanted to make, but if anyone would know where Mika was, Shin was the most likely candidate. Knocking on the door, Ino struggled to keep her balance while she waited, which wasn’t long. A few seconds later the door opened, and Shin’s surprised then neutral face appeared in front of her. “It’s been a while, Hikari,” he greeted her. Even his voice was neutral.

“Shin,” she began, fighting to keep her voice as steady as his, “have you seen Mika and Sayo? I just got home, and they aren’t there.”

“Yeah, they’re here.” He didn’t move from the doorway.

“Oh. Good.” Ino attempted a smile, but she could only manage a small one. “I was worried something had happened. It comforts me knowing you’re so close and can take care of them while I’m at work.”

Shin didn’t look like he knew how to respond to that, but Ino left before he could say anything else. Being near him still hurt, but it hurt less than she thought it would. It was more like a spear piercing her leg now than a knife twisting in her heart. Maybe all the time she spent thinking about Shikamaru’s health helped cushion the effects of letting go of Shin. It wasn’t much of a cushion, but she’d take what she could get. She shook her head at her thoughts. _Shin and I weren’t even together,_ she chided herself. _There was nothing to let go of aside from unrealized feelings._ Those unrealized feelings hurt just as much as realized ones.

~*~

With Shikamaru out of her reach, Ino spent a happy week with Mika and Sayo. They chatted about what was going on while they didn’t see each other as Mika sewed new clothes for Sayo. The child was growing faster than Ino thought she would, and she imitated some of the tricks she had seen the shinobi children do while the adults talked. A better description would be Sayo attempted to imitate the shinobi children; she usually ended up in a happy heap on the floor instead of landing on her feet. They received a constant stream of visitors, the most frequent being Kurogane’s group minus the dark man and Syaoran; they were earning their keep watching out for approaching danger on the high walls around the city. Kagura was also over often, and she shared how her life was going back at the inn with most of the troupe. Apparently now that Ino had removed herself from Shin’s life for the most part, the lost man had turned to his other friends, and Kagura had been waiting with open arms.

Despite the joy Ino derived from being with her friends again, she found herself missing Shikamaru. His health and how he was doing was on her mind the whole day even if it wasn’t at the forefront of her thoughts, but she also wondered how he was in general. Was his family giving him the rest he needed? Did he need the painkillers he hated but try to power through the pain? And what bewildered her the most was how much she felt his absence. It wasn’t like the two of them held long conversations while she was over; he ignored her, and she only bothered him when it was time to eat, get a shot, or go to bed. But she missed waking up from her naps on the couch and seeing his silhouette against the kitchen window and the peace it gave her knowing her teammate was nearby.

Since Shikamaru hadn’t specified a time when he would be back, Ino got antsy after a few days and wanted to check his apartment to see if he had lied about telling her when he would return, but the continued storms made a strong deterrent. The talk around town was that this wasn’t normal weather, and the shinobi were trying to dispel the storm system, but so far they had no luck. So it was with much surprise when she answered her door, expecting Fye with Sakura and Mokona in tow, and found Shikamaru instead. Her instincts took over and she threw her arms around him in a hug, surprising the man and herself when her mind caught up to her body. “Are you okay?” she asked as she released him and proceeded to look him over. “Do you need the painkiller? How’s your leg holding up?”

The chill in the air and the surprise of having a woman throw herself at him had Shikamaru’s cheeks rosy. “My leg is fine,” he answered, his breath steaming in the cool weather. “I’m returning home, and you wanted me to let you know.”

So he did keep his word to her. “Okay, just give me a few minutes, and I’ll go with you,” Ino started, but Shikamaru was shaking his head.

“It’s late, so the most you’ll be doing is putting me to bed. Just come by in the morning.”

“Shikamaru!” Mika must have heard his voice because she came up behind Ino and smiled brightly at him. “It’s been a while. Please come in and make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you, but I need to get back,” he told her, giving her a small smile in return. To offer a smile so freely, Shikamaru must really like Mika. Everyone else had to work for anything other than a scowl or a smirk. “I’m just here to let my keeper know that I will be back and she can return to her duties if she so desires tomorrow morning.”

Some of Mika’s spirits deflated, but she nodded. “Don’t be a stranger,” she said.

Shikamaru nodded to her and Ino, and she stayed put. If she found him in the same clothes in the morning that she just saw on him, then he was in big trouble!

Either the man had slept the night before or he had gotten wise and changed his clothes before she arrived because when Ino let herself into the apartment the next morning, Shikamaru’s clothing didn’t have the wrinkles indicating he had been in them all night long. As she set her boots next to the door and turned, she was startled to find Shikamaru standing right in front of her. “Come with me,” he said as he walked towards the hallway that led to his bedroom.

_Does he need me to clean the back rooms again?_ she wondered as she obeyed, trailing him by a few feet. This seemed different, though.

He stopped a door before the bedroom. On the other side was his “office”; the space was for an office, but if he used it as one, he wouldn’t be working at his kitchen table. When Ino cleaned back there, she found a lot of boxes collecting dust. Of course, she dusted them off and went through them. Quite a few contained nostalgic items from Asuma-sensei, puzzles he had done with their sensei, Asuma’s favorite shogi board, his red bandana that he wore at his hip. The other boxes contained miscellaneous items that one would find in a home, none of it incriminating.

When he opened the door this time, instead of boxes, a small bed greeted Ino’s eyes. Stepping inside the room to better understand what she was seeing, she looked around. Gone were all traces that this once was a storage room. Now a bed with white pillows stood in the middle of the room, the headboard resting against the wall opposite the one adjacent to Shikamaru’s room. The light curtains matched the swirling blue patterns on the pale green bedspread. A small chest of drawers made of cedar sat below the window, matching the cedar framework of the bed. “What is this?” she asked. “Is someone going to be visiting you?”

He shifted his weight off his bad leg. “It’s for you,” he answered. “Until these storms are taken care of, you’re going to be spending more time here than in your own home. The least I can do is provide a bed for you to sleep on so you don’t have to keep taking the couch.”

Shikamaru went through all that effort just for her? A pest that kept getting in the way of his work? Ino was touched. Taking his hand in both of hers, she showed him the gratitude she felt for his generous act. “Thank you,” she said. He didn’t have to do that.

“It’s not much,” he muttered, his face tinted with pink, and went back to his work.

~*~

Ino was thankful for the room as the storms kept coming. The soft bed was much easier on her body than the couch. Since he said it was hers, she added personal touches to it, like adding a few pictures here and there of her friends from the troupe. On her nightstand, she placed a picture of Sayo when she was an infant and Mika, glowing with pride, holding her. She wanted to put her Genin team photo there, maybe behind that picture, but that would be too dangerous. Anyone could just open the back, and the two pictures would fall out. By her bed lay a rug that Mika and Kagura had worked on while they were on the road. They had given it to Ino for “Hikari’s” birthday a while ago, and the warmth of it prevented her feet from freezing when she first got up in the morning. Half her wardrobe now resided in the closet and the chest of drawers Shikamaru had provided her.

Living with Shikamaru meant that Ino didn’t spend as much time worrying about him. She hadn’t realized how much she worried about him until she started living here. With him under her eye basically twenty-four seven, he didn’t do anything that she wasn’t aware of. It wasn’t like he could go anywhere with the weather the way it was, but she saw the few people that came to visit, usually a shinobi from the Hokage Tower waiting for his plans or delivering from Hokage-sama since they didn’t trust the pigeons to get through the storms. She saw him go through the slow exercises that would help his leg get its strength back and felt her heart go out to him. The frustration he felt about not being in command of his leg emanated from his whole being, but the only way he would get it back to normal was if he kept up the exercises and practiced patience.

As he did the exercises in the middle of the living room floor, Ino watched the slush coat the window outside when a hiss brought her attention back in. Shikamaru had stopped his exercise and grabbed his leg, his face scrunched in pain. As she hurried over, he fell onto the floor with his leg clutched to his chest. “Shikamaru!” she cried. “What happened?” No blood stained his clothes or the carpet.

Running to the kit the hospital had provided for her, she tried to get him to swallow an oral painkiller, but his jaw was clenched shut. With that option not viable, she tore open a painkiller patch and without hesitation yanked his loose pants down so only his boxers covered his legs. Pushing the leg of the boxers out of the way, she held the patch over the spot where his leg had been reattached and applied adhesives to hold it in place. The topical medication secured, Ino had nothing left to do but wait until the painkiller took effect. She put her hand over his as it held his leg to his chest and rubbed circles on his back with her free hand. She even tried speaking to him in soothing tones, though it didn’t look like any of her efforts were distracting him. It took another half hour before his pain went down to a manageable level. “What happened?” she asked once he had recovered enough to get off the floor and pull his pants back up. As a medic-nin, she had witnessed many socially embarrassing things in the hospital, so pulling someone’s pants down to administer medication didn’t faze her as much as it did him. This was something she was trained to do, so she didn’t feel as bad as when she’d molested him earlier.

“I must have moved in the wrong way,” he answered. He wouldn’t look at her, instead focusing on the first-aid container she had next to her. “I didn’t think it would hurt that much.”

“You have to be careful,” Ino scolded him. “Healing takes time. You can’t rush it.”

She expected him to argue with her, but all he did was nod. This time she supervised the remainder of his leg exercises, but he went as slow as the instructions recommended, and the rest of the routine ran without incident. He still couldn’t look at her due to her fast actions with the painkiller earlier.

Thanks to Ino’s constant care, Shikamaru started not only to get better, but healthier as well. When he wandered out of his room in a sleepy daze without a shirt, she noted that he looked toned, not as gaunt as before. He would need to train some more when his leg made a full recovery, but he didn’t look like he was all bones anymore. With Ino forcing him to go to bed before she did, he slept more, and the circles under his eyes disappeared. It didn’t cease to amaze her that she had to put someone as lazy as him to bed. She remembered the days when she or Chouji would go out searching for him and find him sleeping on the side of the hill. Now he appeared to have gone to the opposite extreme, pulling several all-nighters in a row. However, with Ino staying on top of him at all hours of the day, he no longer had that option open to him.

The shinobi of Konoha finally managed to break the storms and the weather started to warm up again. People were able to start their normal lives again, and the atmosphere over the city became more cheerful. Even though the room Shikamaru set up for her was only because of the storms, Ino found that she didn’t want to leave it. Being able to get up and make breakfast in her pajamas was something she enjoyed, and it was convenient that she could take a nap surrounded by her things when she felt tired and Shikamaru didn’t want to be bothered. So instead of moving her things and herself back home, she continued to stay, and Shikamaru didn’t mention anything about it.

~*~

It had been a few weeks since the storms stopped, and she and Mika were shopping for groceries together. They both kept one eye on Sayo as she and her rabbit inspected the various heads of cabbage that had appeared on the bottom shelves. Ino’s chakra levels were still too low to protect her mind during a mind search, but they were increasing daily, so she would have to be satisfied with that. This amount of time without being back to her usual chakra levels would have made her wonder if the Hyuuga had destroyed her chakra network, but thanks to her training under Shizune, she knew that her network had been fried, but not destroyed. It just needed a lot of time to heal the pathways and maybe reconnect some of them.

It had been a while since Ino had run into Mika. The two women kept different schedules, and running into her and Sayo was a complete accident. They exchanged stories of what had happened in the weeks that they had been apart. Mika had a glow about her that Ino couldn’t place. Her eyes sparkled like they did when Ino first met her, and she seemed full of energy, which was the opposite of what Ino would have thought for a person with a night job.

“I’m glad that Shikamaru is recovering,” said Mika as they moved through the aisles of produce. “I was worried when they said his leg had been reattached. When he can get around better, you should visit me. I’ll make dinner for us. We all miss you, Hikari.”

“We?”

“The troupe, me, Sayo, Kagura, Misao.” She hesitated. “Shin has been asking about you, too.”

Ino felt a pang at hearing his name, but it was even less painful than the last time she had thought about him. Now the pain was on the same scale as that of a broken bone. It seemed like time was starting to heal her heart. Again. “I’ll see what I can do,” she promised.

The walk home was filled with thoughts of the troupe members and remembering her travels and performances with them. By the time she reached the door to Shikamaru’s apartment, though, she had already turned her thoughts to the chores that she still needed to get done before the day was through. “I’m home,” she called as she took off her shoes.

“Welcome back,” an answering call came from the table where Shikamaru sat with his shogi board in front of him.

His response took Ino aback. He never answered when she came in the door. In fact, he did his best to ignore her presence in the house unless she forced her presence on him. As she walked to the kitchen area of the apartment, she noticed that he wasn’t writing. His head was turned to the table, but he was watching her out of the corner of his eyes. He had never done that before, either, and she didn’t know how to react to it, so she kept walking to the refrigerator and started putting vegetables away. “Hikari, thank you,” she heard him mutter.

Now she stopped. “What?” she responded before she could think about stopping herself. She could only see the back of his head now, so she walked around the counter separating the kitchen from the living room and looked at Shikamaru, who was now looking out the window. _Is he blushing?_ A faint tinge of pink colored his cheeks and he didn’t meet her eyes. “What was that?” she repeated.

The pink grew more pronounced. “I never thanked you for helping me,” he mumbled. His head was angled towards her, but his eyes were now on the table in front of him.

Smiling, Ino patted his shoulder. “You helped my friend, so the least I can do is help you. We can never repay you, but this is a start, right?”

He returned her smile with one of his own. Not a smirk, but a rare, genuine smile. Ino felt her heart skip a beat, and she froze. _What is wrong with me?_ she scolded herself as she returned to the vegetables. _This is Shikamaru, after all. He might be the one selling Konoha’s secrets to the enemy... It just surprised me that he would smile so easily._ Satisfied with her explanation to herself, she nodded and shut the refrigerator door.


	13. Chapter 13

The days passed, the war showed no sign of stopping, and Shikamaru was well enough to add physical training to his daily regime. Ino’s chakra had reached the point where she could do one mind search if it was quick, and she should have been jumping for joy upon that discovery. In reality, it was the opposite. Lately, she had noticed Shikamaru watching her when he thought she wasn’t looking, and her cheeks and core would get warm when she caught him. Coming through the door, he started responding to her call, making her feel like she was coming home. Instead of ignoring her, he sometimes would leave his table by the window and talk with her as she prepared food for the two of them or folded the laundry. It seemed like he enjoyed spending time with her, but then he would get a faraway look in his eyes, his half-smile would fade, and he would look away and be silent for a time. She learned to stay quiet when he got like this, and she knew that in a few minutes he would bury himself back in his work.

She didn’t know what caused his change in behavior, but it wreaked havoc on her emotions. The trigger to these episodes eluded her, but it made her feel sad for some reason when he went back to the table and ignored her. The morning he decided to start training and invited her to go with him, a warm, happy feeling spread throughout her body. In the back of her mind, she knew that he wouldn’t have asked just any civilian to accompany him to watch him train. He used the excuse that she was his keeper, so she should be there in case something went wrong, but he hadn’t been able to look at her when he had asked, and his cheeks were as pink as her own.

For his first time, he chose a secluded place instead of the main training grounds. Ino dusted snow off a bench and draped a blanket over it so she wouldn’t freeze. She wrapped the hospital first-aid kit in another blanket so the medicines wouldn’t become frozen solid. Once everything was settled, she turned to where Shikamaru already started going through basic kata, though at a much slower pace than if he was in top form. She sat on the edge of her seat, ready to fly to his side if his leg wasn’t up to the physical demand.

He made it through his exercises without collapsing, though he was exhausted at the end of it. Ino was not surprised in the least; he hadn’t been able to do much physical exercise while stuck in the apartment. As they made their careful way back to the apartment, Shikamaru started off walking under his own power, but Ino noticed he had started stumbling more in the snow drifts and icy spots and moved closer to him. By the time they arrived at Shikamaru’s apartment, his hand clutched her shoulder, and most of his weight was on her. It was a good thing her body was kept in good condition or she never would have been able to balance him and the other things she carried.

Back inside, Ino stripped off her boots and took out the painkiller bottle. He had started limping a few blocks back and the painkiller had a sedative side effect, so he would sleep through some of the pain while he rested. It wasn’t as potent as the syringe painkiller, but it should do the trick. “Here,” she said, shaking two pills into his hand. “This will help.”

He had to have known what they were, and she expected him to fight her about it, but he popped them in and washed them down with the bottle of water she offered him. The sedative effects weren’t supposed to happen for another hour, but he was halfway to la-la land already, so she knew it wouldn’t be long before he fell asleep. “Shikamaru,” she nudged him as he slid down the back of the couch to lie against the pillows, “you should go sleep in your own bed.” She sat beside him on the couch and nudged him again.

Glancing down at himself, Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow. “Not without a shower,” he replied, but he did sit back up with a sigh. “Alright, I’ll go clean up.”

“Can you make it?” She hoped he’d stay awake long enough to finish his shower.

He gave a small wave of his hand and disappeared into the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Looking back toward the entrance, Ino knew she should clean up the snow they had tracked inside before it melted and ran from the tile to the carpet, but she was pretty tired too. _Come on, Ino,_ she thought, trying to give her body a pep talk. _Just one last thing and you can rest. You can do it!_ With a groan, she pushed herself off the couch and got the broom out of the closet. The broom did a respectable job of getting the majority of the snow out of the apartment, and Ino used paper towels to dry up what remained afterward.

When the last paper towel made it into the trash can, the brown-haired woman sank onto the couch in an imitation of Shikamaru and closed her eyes. An odd movement of the middle cushion caused her to open her eyes again. Looking down, she saw Shikamaru’s ponytail-less head reclining at an uncomfortable-looking angle near her midriff. He sat on the floor with his legs splayed out in front of the fireplace. “What are you doing back out here?” she wondered aloud as she sat back up. What she really wanted to do was close her eyes again and just go to sleep, but taking care of the Nara heir was what she was paid to do.

He didn’t open his eyes until she got his arm around her shoulders and brought both of them to a standing position, and even then they were only half-open. When she tried to move them towards the hallway, he brought his whole weight down and caused them to fall back down on the couch, him lying on top of her left side. “Let me sleep,” he muttered as he made himself comfortable. He still had Ino’s left side pinned down.

“Come on, Shikamaru, let’s get you back to your bed.” When he didn’t want to move, Ino wasn’t strong enough to budge him. Maybe she could slip out from under him, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

Shikamaru shifted but didn’t make a move to get up. The scent of his shampoo was heady, and she just wanted to stay put and leave him alone. Maybe sleepiness was catching; she yawned and felt her eyes starting to close again. The desire to cuddle up to him and fall asleep surrounded by his scent sprang on her out of nowhere. That thought alone was enough to jerk her back towards alertness, but his next words stopped her from moving. “I sleep better when you’re near,” he mumbled into her neck.

What? She looked down at the lower part of his face, which was the only part her eyes could reach. Had she heard that right? _Shikamaru_ said that? The oral painkiller she gave him did have cognitive impairment listed as one of the side effects, but he hadn’t displayed any of that before. That kind of statement was made to someone a person was attracted to. _Did he show any signs of attraction before this?_ Thinking back, yes, she did remember him starting to be nicer to her, especially after he set up his office as a second bedroom just for her. The talks, greeting her when she walked in the door, inviting her to go with him when he practiced outside, none of that was characteristic of the Shikamaru she knew. He wouldn’t have bothered if he hadn’t been interested, and she hadn’t picked up on it until now? Some love expert she was! Ino could have hit herself. But this wasn’t something she wanted to deal with right now. Instead, she gave in to her and Shikamaru’s desires and settled down to have a nap, her nose buried in the scent of his shampoo.

Neither of them mentioned that couch incident afterward, and life continued on as normal. But now that Ino knew what was going on, normal took on a whole new meaning. When he stopped his work to watch her and talk while she prepared meals for the two of them, she paid more attention to his body language and what he wasn’t saying. At first she couldn’t believe it, but Nara Shikamaru was a subtle flirt. The topic of conversation would be mundane, but how he held himself and looked at her as he spoke still made her temperature shoot up, and she was surprised that her whole body didn’t turn red. While his smiles were not showered on her, they made more frequent appearances than usual, and she felt her heart race and her own feelings wanting to rise to match what he displayed.

Ino had felt this way many times before, and it shook her to the core that she was feeling this way around Shikamaru. _It’s Shikamaru!_ she told herself as she attacked a dusty shelf. The dust flew everywhere, making her cough. _I can’t feel this way about him. He’s my patient. It’ll interfere with my mission. What kind of shinobi falls in love with her target? A failure, that kind, and I, Yamanaka Ino, am no failure!_ Sitting down on the floor, she smacked her duster against the wooden planks. _He did a more strenuous routine this morning during training, so he’ll go to sleep early tonight. I’ll do a mind search on him, and then…I’ll decide my next move after that’s done._ Deep down, even though he had more evidence against him than for him, Ino hoped that he wasn’t the bug. She had never wanted him to be the informant, but now she had more reason to want him to be innocent.

_Do you even want to check him now?_ a small part of her asked. _Once you’ve gone through his mind, he’ll either be restrained and taken to Hokage-sama or be cleared and go on with his life. Either ending has no reason for you to stay here with him. Soon he’ll be well enough that he won’t need your help, and your duty to him for Mika will be done._

Ino swatted her head with the duster, causing a shower of dust to scatter around her. _Stop thinking like that,_ she scolded herself. _Your mission and Jounin qualification depends on this._ It didn’t dispel the cold feeling that lodged itself inside her at the thought of checking Shikamaru.

When she had composed herself and removed all traces of dust from her hair, she entered the living room where the shadow-user had papers lying around his table. The sun had set a long time ago and the messenger pigeon slept with its head under its wing, but still Shikamaru wrote and moved pieces on the shogi board. The tension in his shoulders told her that a problem had arisen and he was hard-pressed to solve the issue. Walking around behind him, she massaged his shoulders with gentle fingers. In an unusual display of affection, he leaned back against her and sighed. “Is something wrong?” she asked, bending her head down slightly.

“A better question would be what isn’t wrong,” he grunted as she hit a hard knot in his back.

“Anything I can do to help?”

She wasn’t serious. After all, what could a civilian do to help a battle-trained shinobi? However, to her surprise, he craned his neck to scrutinize her and nodded. “There is something you can do. It’s something only you can help me resolve.”

Whatever she had expected him to do, it was not what happened next. He stood, and the next thing she knew, the two of them were slipping through shadows cast by the lampposts and making their way towards the area of the Hokage Tower. “Shikamaru, what are we doing?” she asked, but he waved for her to be quiet. He stayed out of the light, and she did the same. From the way he was acting, they were going somewhere that they weren’t supposed to be, and it wasn’t for amusement. Even in the shadows, Ino could see the sweat forming on his forehead, and his face had a serious expression. She wanted to demand an explanation of how this was solving anything, but she refrained. If Shikamaru wanted a witness for something, another shinobi would have been better. That she was a witness of some sort, she had no doubt; no other explanation came to mind. Why was it something only she could do, though?

They stopped a few blocks from the Hokage Tower. Before she could get a word out, his hand was over her mouth, his other hand going around her waist, and Ino found herself flying through the chill air. “You can let go of me,” he murmured in her ear, and she realized that they had landed on a slushy rooftop, and she was grabbing onto him for dear life. He continued to speak in a low voice that didn’t carry beyond her ears. “We should only be here for a little bit, but this is something you need to see.”

Ino glared at the dark-haired man. He could have warned her that they were going to be roof jumping! Getting down on his stomach and gesturing for her to do the same, he handed her a pair of binoculars and directed them toward a window. She tried focusing the lenses to make the image come into focus, but the image remained that of a curtain obscuring whatever was happening behind it. At her side, Shikamaru was performing a series of seals, and the curtain shifted enough that Ino could see through the crack. She suppressed the feeling that she was a Peeping Tom and refocused the lens. She saw a hand sweeping downward, but then it became obscured by the curtain again. “The curtain is covering everything,” she whispered.

The man muttered under his breath, and the curtain moved a little more. Ino took another look and bit back a gasp. In the small gap provided by Shikamaru, Mika was in the passionate embrace of someone, a very important someone. “This isn’t good,” muttered Ino. She took another look, but the two people remained the same. “How long has this been going on?”

The curtain gap closed, and just in time. She knew what happened next, and it was something she didn’t want to see. “Since before I went to the front lines,” answered Shikamaru. He put a finger to her lips. “You can ask questions back at my place.”

The return trip was made in silence, but the apartment door hadn’t closed when Ino started the flood of questions that had built up. Shikamaru backed away from her onslaught of words, his hands held out in front of him. When she ran out of breath, Ino sank onto the couch, her head in her hands. “Why did this have to happen?” she moaned.

Shikamaru snorted. “That is something I would like to know, too.”

“Why did it have to be me?” she asked as the man sat down across from her. “Why did you show this to me?”

He hesitated before replying. “This is an unstable situation,” he started. “Mika-san has been distracting him from this war, and his wife and Hokage-sama know that something is going on. I don’t know how no one else has found them out yet. It was by accident that I saw them.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “When I confronted her about it, the first thing she did was beg me to not tell you. No one else was mentioned, just you.”

“This doesn’t make sense. Why would she care what I thought? Why didn’t you tell someone? Why didn’t you talk to Toya-dono about this?”

“What do you think I could do? It’s not like I could just walk up to him and call him out in front of his wife.”

“His wife!” Ino groaned. “Does she know?”

“She appears to have suspicions, but she doesn’t have conclusive evidence. The only variable we can affect right now is Mika-san, and it’s gotten to the point where I need to ask for your help.” He folded his arms and looked at her.

“What do you expect me to do?”

“Talk to her! The king is distracted, and we’re getting almost nowhere because of the tension between him and Lochia-dono. Hokage-sama has been sending me dispatches outside their councils with orders on soldier placement since the meetings are no longer productive.”

Ino knew what he wanted her to tell Mika, and she knew that it would be for the greater good, but to tell her friend to stop seeing her husband…she didn’t have the right to do that, not as a friend. As a shinobi whose main purpose is to keep people alive, she would have to do it anyway, even if she didn’t think any argument she made would convince Mika or Toya-dono to separate now that they’d found each other again. “I’ll see what I can do,” she told him. “But no promises.”

She sent him to bed and went to her own room to meditate on the problem. _It won’t take him long to fall asleep._ Even with the influx of information that she acquired that night, she still hadn’t forgotten her goal for the day. However, the calmness she sought kept slipping away from her and was replaced by thoughts of Mika and Toya-dono. Despite her and Shin’s intentions, they had somehow found each other and found a way to be together so that no one except Shikamaru had found them out. They were sneaky enough to be shinobi themselves to pull that off.

Putting an ear to the wall, she didn’t hear the sounds of tossing and turning. _It’s go-time,_ she thought as she padded out the door and stopped in front of Shikamaru’s. She still couldn’t hear any sounds coming from his room aside from the usual breathing. Using a bobby pin, she picked his lock and slipped inside. The faint light cast striped designs on the far wall and allowed her to find her way to the head of the bed. The sleeping man before her showed no signs of waking anytime soon, and he didn’t even budge when she carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. Performing the hand seals, she whispered, “Shintenshin no Jutsu,” and entered into the genius’ mind.

Once her consciousness stabilized, Ino recognized the Nara deer forest around her. Despite her friend’s protests about how he didn’t want to raise deer his whole life, she knew how much the deer meant to him. Leaping into the leafy canopy above, she crouched down on a branch to observe a herd of deer wander underneath her. Ino wasn’t as knowledgeable about deer as Shikamaru, but she recognized the signals of a distressed deer. _They can sense my presence,_ she realized. _The deer must be part of Shikamaru’s mental defenses._ She had practiced her family’s technique on Shikamaru during training, just like she had with Chouji, but she didn’t recognize this from her last visit. No sign of his previous defenses existed, meaning he had done an overhaul of his mental defenses since she last blasted into his mind all those years ago.

The deer didn’t charge her tree. The herd milled around on the ground beneath her, their ears twitching in different directions. Frowning, Ino thought, _They know that something is here that shouldn’t be, but they can’t pinpoint me just yet. But how do I get around them?_ Her time was limited; the amount of chakra at her disposal would be used up too quickly to go through his mind if she had to fight the deer. That was something to be avoided at all costs since damaging the deer might also trigger Shikamaru’s consciousness to become aware that something was wrong. She doubted that she would be able to get away fast enough if that happened.

Carefully crawling to a different tree, she slid down into the thicket at the base of the trunk and paused to think. Lost in thought, she didn’t notice an approaching fawn behind her until it butted her in the back. This was so unexpected that Ino froze where she fell, looking at the fawn as it examined her. It was fearless, nosing around her arms and legs. Its wet nose tickled her neck, and she giggled. Her hand came up on its own and stroked the fawn’s soft fur. Both Ino and the fawn stopped, then the fawn rubbed its head against her upraised hand. As Ino started to pet it, she felt herself falling into a memory.

The area that manifested itself around her was Shikamaru’s apartment. At the table sat the owner of the apartment, looking over some papers. Glancing up, he sighed and pushed himself to his feet. He grabbed one paper from the table and slouched out the door. “This is so troublesome,” she heard him mutter under his breath. “I wanted a mission, not this.”

When he arrived at his destination, Ino recognized the place where she, Shikamaru, and Chouji first met Asuma-sensei when they graduated to Genin status. In front of Shikamaru sat three new Genin. All three of them turned around when Shikamaru drawled, “Team Six?”

The boy on the right jumped up and down. “You’re late, Shikamaru-sensei,” he complained.

“I know, I know. I was working on something for Hokage-sama,” responded the shadow-user as he leaned against a pillar. He reached in his back pocket for a cigarette, but his hand returned empty. He looked annoyed, but he didn’t comment. _Where is his cigarette case?_ wondered Ino. _He always has it on him._

Shikamaru sighed. “Let’s start off with introductions. As you know, I’m Shikamaru, and I’ll be your Jounin instructor until you’re ready to take the Chuunin exams.” He nodded to the boy who scolded him when he first arrived. “Introduce yourself to your new teammates,” he said.

The boy grinned. “I’m Ishida Sou, and everyone in my family is a shinobi. I’m hoping to follow in my dad’s footsteps and help Hokage-sama with her work.”

The middle child spoke. “My name is Aido Kureha. My older sister was the first shinobi in my family, and I want to be just like her!” The girl’s eyes shone with sibling-worship, earning her strange looks from her team members. Shikamaru grunted and looked at the remaining Genin wrapped in a high trench coat. “And the last one,” he said.

The boy pushed his dark glasses up. “Aburame Tohru of the Aburame clan,” he said, his soft voice reminiscent of Shino’s.

Sou jumped up and ran to Shikamaru. “So are we gonna start training?” he asked.

“Oh, can we? Can we?” Kureha joined him.

The close proximity of the Genin startled Shikamaru, but the pillar prevented him from moving away from them. “We just met today,” the man protested. Ino giggled; it looked like he was trying to meld with the pillar in an effort to create more space between him and his team. “Today was just meeting the people you’ll be working with.”

“We know each other now, so let’s get started training!” the two cried. Even Tohru seemed interested in getting started, though he didn’t crowd Shikamaru like his teammates.

The image faded on Shikamaru sighing and talking more with his overenthusiastic Genin. Ino found herself sitting on the grassy floor of the Nara forest again, the fawn looking her right in the face. “Were you the memory?” she asked the fawn. The baby deer shook its head and bounded away. “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” the kunoichi murmured. Staying close to the thicket, she edged closer to the herd.

A young doe was her target. The doe noticed her approach and watched her with wary eyes, but when Ino didn’t make any sudden moves, the doe stepped towards her. Slowly extending her left hand forward, Ino held it out to the deer, who approached with caution. As the doe slid her face under Ino’s still hand, the blonde willed a memory to open, and the imagery around her faded to another scene.

Shikamaru was training with Ino and Chouji in the training yard under the supervision of Asuma-sensei. They were all still Chuunin, and Asuma was giving them tips to improve their taijutsu. Shikamaru and Chouji sparred one-on-one, and Ino was sitting under the trees with Asuma, watching the two fighters. Ino didn’t remember this particular training session since they had all started blending together. As the memory progressed, she saw Chouji duck under Shikamaru’s guard and send him flying. “Way to go, Chouji!” the younger Ino shouted from the shade.

“Okay Ino, it’s your turn,” said Asuma. “Shikamaru, get some rest.”

The slender man staggered over to take Ino’s place. “Don’t go easy on me, Chouji,” young Ino said to her large friend as she sauntered out onto the field.

The older Ino shook her head. There was no way that she could beat Chouji when it came to physical strength. She was definitely faster than Chouji, but with his armor, her attacks hardly did any damage. However, her focus was Shikamaru, not her younger self. As Asuma yelled out advice for the combatants, the Nara watched in silence.

One of the differences in watching a memory and experiencing it in reality was Ino could feel the emotions that her target felt. Even though Shikamaru looked calm on the outside, she felt a rush of emotions from him. The primary feeling was pride in his teammates, but following close behind was a mixture of longing and guilt. Ino looked at Shikamaru and saw that his eyes were focused not on the fighting, but on the younger Ino. He took in every swing of her kunai, each toss of her head. What he felt for her was stronger than friendship, but he knew that he shouldn’t have these feelings for his teammate. Not only was she out of his league, it would jeopardize their unity as a team if she ever guessed at how he felt for her. Things would be awkward between them, and it would make things awkward for Chouji, and the team would fall apart.

_Even back then, he cared for me, and I didn’t even have a hint about his feelings,_ thought Ino as the memory faded. That one memory alone solidified how he felt about her. In anyone else’s memory, he could have fooled everyone with brilliant acting, but she was in his mind, and nothing was hidden or altered. Now Ino had to fight the strong urge to leave his mind so she could stay in ignorant bliss for a little longer. _But I can’t leave. It’s for Konoha and everyone else. It’s for Sakura, Hokage-sama, and Chouji. It’s for Shikamaru._ Steeling herself, she left the thicket and walked into the herd.

 Going through his memories exhausted her more than she cared to admit. Even if she had been in top shape, he would have been a difficult target, and she didn’t know how she found the strength to continue. After a few different deer, she realized that the important memories were in the forms of the bucks, and they didn’t willingly approach her. They watched her as she wandered through the herd, but they would lower their heads and brandish their antlers at her if she got too close. However, if she meandered through the does and fawns that were close to them, they didn’t realize she was within arm’s reach until she “accidently” stumbled into one of them. It wasn’t her preferred method, but in her weakened state, it was all she had.

More than any other mind transfer, this one drained her emotionally as well as physically. She saw how his feelings for her changed from annoyed tolerance from when they were in the Academy to grudging respect when they were in their beginning Genin days to love. He told himself it was just infatuation, but Ino felt his feelings, and she knew, just like he did, that he was deluding himself for both their sakes and the sake of the team. Even in the more recent memories of her as Hikari and living with him, she saw how he had started to develop feelings for his new houseguest, but when he thought of Ino, he felt like he was betraying her memory, especially since she never had justice done, and he would block out Hikari. It explained why things would be going well between them and he would suddenly get cold on her. Ino could have smacked herself; how could she have missed the signs when his feelings were painfully obvious at times, even now? This man would have gone through the gates of Hell and back for her.

The next memory took place in a wooded area experiencing a heavy downpour. Shikamaru, alone, was flying through the trees at top speed. _He’ll slip if he doesn’t slow down!_ cried Ino’s mind. _There’s too little friction between him and the branches with the water covering everything; he won’t be able to push off the branches._

Sure enough, Ino’s prediction came true. Within two bounds of the memory, Shikamaru’s feet slipped from underneath him, and he crashed to the ground, landing on his hands and knees. Instead of continuing on with the important mission, as his earlier speed seemed to indicate that he had, his hands curled into fists, and he started to shake. His emotions were in turmoil and threatened to knock Ino off her feet. “What is happening?” she wondered aloud. Her teammate was very upset about something, and she had a feeling that this was sometime after her disappearance since she didn’t remember him ever being like that.

With a wordless roar, Shikamaru staggered to his feet and proceeded to punch and kick the trees around him. The rain made everything slick, so his attacks slid around the trees, and the puddles on the ground continued to make him slip, but he continued his attacks, bloodying his knuckles and whatever else happened to collide with the trees’ bark. This behavior was uncharacteristic of Shikamaru, and if Ino hadn’t been in his mind, she would have had a hard time believing that this was the same Shikamaru she grew up with. His thoughts bounced around in her mind. _Why did you have to die, Ino?_ he kept asking. _Why did you leave us behind? Why did you leave me behind?_ One of the trees splintered. _Please tell me this is a dream. Don’t do this to me, Ino…Ino…Ino!_ His strength left him and he collapsed onto the wet, loamy earth. The sky cried the tears he held back within himself.

The memory of her funeral was especially difficult for her to watch. The man was so far in shock that everything felt blunted to his senses. Even the color of the memory took on gray hues, their normal colors muted to faint tints. He was alone in his apartment, and it looked like he was getting ready to leave for the funeral. Beneath the surface shock, Ino felt the sorrow and anger bubbling, but the man held them in check by sheer force of will. It was the last time he would see her; he didn’t want his last memory of her to be tainted with such ugly emotions. He could keep himself together for the funeral. Looking into the mirror, dull eyes met in his reflection. Apparently that was a mistake. Those black eyes took in his equally black funeral clothing, and his lips tightened in an effort to keep the emotions and tears back. He hated what those clothes meant and why he had to wear them today. Shoving himself away from the mirror with a force that the task didn’t warrant, he stalked out of the apartment to join his family and head for the funeral grounds.

The walk was like traveling in a town populated with ghosts. Ino knew they were real people, but their outlines were wispy and their voices were unintelligible murmurs. Because Shikamaru was so focused on not focusing on anything, Ino couldn’t make out what anyone was saying. She did recognize the people he passed only because she was familiar with their outlines and matched that with the low murmurs in the background; physical features were blurred and shadowy. Off to the right walked Iruka-sensei with Naruto. Close behind them stumbled Sakura with Sai keeping close to her. Every once in a while Naruto would glance back to make sure his teammates were still there, or maybe to make sure Sakura was okay. Unable to see their facial expressions with any clarity, it was hard to judge. Shikamaru walked past them in an unseeing daze, his feet on autopilot as he followed his parents through the streets of Konoha.

Once they arrived at the funeral grounds and took their respective places, people started to take on more color. To be more precise, Chouji appeared normal. The big man was allowing unashamed tears to roll down his face, and the sight almost broke through Shikamaru’s self-imposed lack of feeling. He hated it when Chouji was upset. They were best friends, after all, and it was his job to look out for the Akimichi. However, in this case, there was nothing he could do. It took all his willpower to keep his own emotions in check; he didn’t have the strength to lend to anyone else. He couldn’t even look at Ino’s parents in the front. Seeing them would have broken him for sure.

When the casket bearers came and set the closed casket next to the new grave marker and started digging, Shikamaru found he couldn’t look away from the plain wooden container. Inside that hollow casket lay his teammate, the unacknowledged love of his life. Just the other week, she was so full of life and energy. An image of her and Shikamaru and Chouji flashed through the mind’s landscape before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. It was when they wandered through Konoha right before she left for her mission. Shikamaru’s breathing rate increased in response to the sharp pain in his chest that the memory caused. One hand unconsciously came up to rub at the spot where the pain originated, and he tried to look away, but the casket called his attention like it was a magnet and his eyes were metal. _Such a plain container for someone who stood out as much as she did,_ Shikamaru’s voice echoed around Ino. _She deserves something bright, something colorful. Not this bland barrel._ Even his thoughts were shaky, like his inner voice would break at any time.

Several times he nearly lost control of himself during the funeral. The worst moments were when they buried the casket and again when his turn came to lay down a flower on her grave. He was supposed to kneel down and place it next to the ones that the Yamanakas and the Akimichis already lay down, but his knees were locked and refused to bend. Staring down at her name and rank on the gravestone, the flower in his hand started to slip through his fingers, and only clenching his hands into fists prevented the plant from falling. _You haven’t done much right when it comes to her,_ his voice sounded again. _The least you can do is get through this properly so she doesn’t scold you when you see her again._ Willpower forced his knees to bend, and he sank to the ground, though he did land hard on his knuckles. Gently placing the flower amongst its fellows, Shikamaru bowed his head to say his silent farewell and regain his composure that threatened to dissipate when he knelt. Ino didn’t hear any words. She only felt emotions coming from him, the primary one being denial. Despite his pep talk to himself, he still didn’t accept that she was gone, not deep down. The memory faded as he took his place beside his parents and the Yamanaka and Akimichi heads, still trapped in his own island of shock.

Not all his memories were as intense as that. He had started to digress back to his post-Ino state when he met Mika, but his friends were able to stave off the return. It surprised Ino that as he got to know Mika, his feelings had retracted a little. Her manner was different than Ino’s, and he was able to believe that it wasn’t her standing in front of him when she talked to him. At the same time, when she had pleaded with him to not tell Ino about her affair with her husband, Shikamaru, against his better judgment, had acquiesced. When Mika had looked at him in _that_ way, despite her green eyes, she had been the very image of Ino, and all of Shikamaru’s resistance crumbled to dust. Ino knew that he had broken that promise because it was starting to affect others, but during the memory, Shikamaru had vowed in the recesses of his mind that he would do whatever she wanted if it kept her happy.

Her chakra was fading fast. As she sat with her back against a tree, Ino closed her eyes and tried to dredge up more energy. She didn’t have much time left and she hadn’t been able to get through many of his memories. The bucks were elusive, and the memories she could get to weren’t what she was looking for. _Why did that Hyuuga have to zap me?_ she thought. _This wouldn’t be so hard if I was in top shape._ Not that it would have been easy; she still couldn’t have done all this in one night with her chakra at full strength.

Around Ino, the deer nosed at the green grass near her tree. The fawns and does intermingled close to where she sat while the bucks pawed at the ground and shook their antlers when another came too close. It could have been a regular day on the lands of the Nara clan. Ino remembered when she and Chouji went to visit Shikamaru, and the three of them helped Shikaku with caring for the deer. She had been excited about it, but Shikamaru had been less than thrilled. When they were done, Ino had watched the fawns bound around and play with each other, though they never strayed far from the sides of their respective does. The bucks had tried to express their dominance by looking intimidating to the others and chasing off the younger and weaker ones. As Ino watched, she noticed the same display happening in Shikamaru’s mind. One of the younger bucks was chased off by a larger one and pranced backwards towards Ino. His hind leg didn’t lift high enough to clear the roots, and he stumbled back, nearly sitting on Ino. Without any caution, Ino stroked his neck and fell into the memory he contained.

The shadow-user was walking through the streets of Konoha, not paying much attention to the hustle and bustle around him. He didn’t have a mission since he was on leave, Ino was on a mission, and Chouji was training with his father, which meant he had no one to bother him if he decided to cloud-watch the day away. It was a good day for it, too; the sky was an intense blue from the heat, and the cumulus clouds were reaching astronomical heights without becoming the grey anvil heads of the cumulonimbus. In short, the perfect day for him to do nothing but cloud-watch. He idly wondered if his father needed him to do something today, but he brushed the thought aside. If his father needed him, then he’d tell him so when Shikamaru got home and it was too late to do anything about it.

Two shinobi walked past him. Shikamaru’s ears caught Ino’s name, and his senses focused on the two shinobi. It was a habit he had to break. He couldn’t just listen in on a conversation whenever Ino’s name popped up. If he did that, then his attention would be all over the place because Ino was such a hot topic. Unless he was in a meeting with Hokage-sama or briefing a team for a mission, he could usually pick up on several conversations that had something to do with Ino. Over the years, he’d trained himself to move his attention away from the conversation, but the tone of the two shinobi did not sound good. Picking up the pace, Shikamaru moved closer to the two men in front of him.

“You can’t be serious!” the short shinobi exclaimed in a low voice.

The taller one nodded. “I saw the missive and delivered the message to Hokage-sama herself. She thinks that they captured the Yamanaka heiress specifically so they could trade her for the Nara tactician.”

“But even if she is the Yamanaka heiress, Ino isn’t worth as much to Konoha as Shikamaru. How could they think that we would agree to that?”

“They might be desperate. Hokage-sama is trying to figure this out without telling the head of intelligence because he won’t be able to do his job with his daughter’s life on the line, but I don’t see how we can rescue her. If they’re that desperate, they might just kill her if they think a rescue party is on the way and try something else. But she has already stated that she isn’t sending Shikamaru to them…”

They continued to walk and talk, but Shikamaru slowed to a stop, trying to process what he just heard. Ino tried to process it too. She knew that she wasn’t as big an asset to Konoha as Shikamaru, but to hear someone else say it hurt a lot. Shikamaru’s feet started walking of their own accord to his original destination, but the clouds were banished from his mind. He was in shock. Ino could feel his disbelief that someone would capture her just to get to him. Apparently it had never occurred to him that someone would try to hurt him though her. In all the scenarios that he had thought of, this had not been featured in any of them, and he had no plan in place for how to get her out of it. If this had happened at the present time, Ino had no doubt that he would already have several plans in place. After all, Shikamaru was one of the best when it came to preplanning. However, in this memory, he was still young. They were only sixteen, barely starting their careers as shinobi. Their mentality was still that all shinobi were equal soldiers; experience had taught them differently, but this looked like Shikamaru’s first experience with that fact of life. He wasn’t taking it well.

As he reached his favorite cloud-watching spot, the disbelief dwindled, leaving despair in its wake. His thoughts were going too fast for Ino to catch them all, but they kept circling back to someone capturing Ino in order to exchange her for him. Her for him. Her for him.

Some young children in the Academy played close by, but he did no more than note their presence before dismissing them from his mind. Several of Hokage-sama’s messenger pigeons flew overhead; his subconscious wondered if they contained information on what to do about the Ino situation. One of the pigeons was lagging; the leg with the missive was significantly larger than the other one. That was probably a request for an S-ranked mission. If he could coax that one down, he could switch that message with a rescue mission request for Ino…but he had no plan to write down! The pigeons flew on, out of his range, and he was no closer to a feasible rescue mission than when he started.

He sat there until the setting sun cast long shadows on the ground. In all that time, he had reached only one conclusion. Standing, he glanced around, noting how he had left an indent of his body from laying in the grass all day. It might be the last time he saw this piece of ground. There was no choice, really. He couldn’t let her die.

Ino’s hand flew to her mouth. _He can’t be serious,_ she thought, but she had access to his thoughts, and yes, he was quite serious. He had every intention of marching himself down to where the captors were and presenting himself in exchange for her. He didn’t know exactly where she was, but he knew where her mission was supposed to be, so it had to be somewhere in that vicinity. If he moved fast, Hokage-sama wouldn’t be able to send a team in time to stop him. With a purpose, he strode towards his family compound to get a travel pack. He had no feelings of regret whatsoever about what he was going to do.

He was so focused on his goal that he didn’t hear someone hissing his name until the person grabbed his arm. Shikamaru’s fist pulled back to punch the person, but then he saw who it was and stopped. “What do you want, Naruto?” he muttered. In Ino’s head she heard him thinking, _Why is he stopping me now? I have to get going._

The blue-eyed Kyuubi looked somber. “Listen, we need your help,” said Naruto.

“I don’t have time,” Shikamaru snapped, pulling his arm away from the other shinobi. “I have to be somewhere.”

The shadow shinobi started walking away, but Naruto grabbed him again. “This is important,” the blonde insisted, tugging him towards the alley he had come from. “It won’t work without you.”

“What is so important?” growled Shikamaru. _I have to get going, I won’t get there in time,_ his inner voice echoed in Ino’s mind.

The Kyuubi leaned closer to Shikamaru. “No one’s supposed to know this, but Ino’s in trouble and if she doesn’t get help, then there’s a good chance she won’t make it through her mission,” whispered Naruto. That got Shikamaru’s attention. “Sakura overheard Tsunade-baachan talking about it, but she can’t afford to send anyone after her. So we need your help coming up with a plan.” Naruto looked at him expectantly.

A plan did not pop up in Shikamaru’s mind, but he nodded anyway. “When do we head out?” he asked, striding after the other boy.

The memory faded, but then it shifted to a later time, still before Ino’s rescue. However, she recognized the area as the site where she was being held captive. She couldn’t tell which storage unit she had been stashed in; they all looked the same. It wasn’t like she had gotten a good look at them earlier, either. She had been unconscious when they brought her here, and she hadn’t been in any condition to pay attention to her surroundings when they had rescued her. However, she remembered the red roofs and white-washed walls, and an involuntary shiver went down her spine.

Sai, Kiba, and Akamaru approached Shikamaru, Sakura, and Naruto as they sat on one of the uniform roofs near the edge of the site. Shikamaru looked up as they came closer, his hands in his “thinking” pose. “Report,” he commanded, his voice brusque.

Sakura and Naruto moved back to allow the others to join the circle. “There aren’t a lot of people around,” stated Kiba. His dark eyes seemed to glow in the light of the moon. “Most of them are concentrated around this building.” He pointed to a rock representing the building near the left-hand side of the map of the area Shikamaru had constructed. “There are a few more pockets of them here, here, here, and here.” He pointed to four other rocks in different locations in the block. “There’s no sign of Ino, though.”

The shadows around Shikamaru were moving in small, violent motions. Ino doubted that any of the others noticed, but she’d been his teammate for more years than she cared to think about, and she knew that if the shadows were reacting to him like that, he must be very agitated. Her access to his thoughts and emotions reinforced her assessment of his mood. His thoughts were whirring by too fast for her to catch everything, but so far he had no plan that would get her out of there safely. Kiba and Akamaru, Sai, and Naruto could do some serious damage here, but there were only three of them and five possible locations. Yes, he could also join in, but he couldn’t do nearly as much damage as the other three. Sakura had to be kept in reserve in case they got hurt, and especially if Ino was not in good shape when they got to her. They were all looking at him, waiting for him to tell them the miraculous plan that would allow them to get Ino and themselves back to Konoha, but he didn’t have one.

As Shikamaru remained silent, Sakura spoke up. “Maybe we should check each place one at a time,” she suggested, glancing around the circle. “It’ll be slower, but we’ll have more manpower in case it comes to a fight.”

Even as Naruto agreed with his teammate, Shikamaru shook his head. “We’re going against the clock,” he said. “We have to make this as fast as possible. If I’m right, we only have tonight. We’ve already been gone for a few days, and it’ll take a few more to get back to Konoha. If we’re gone for longer than a week, we’ll have ANBU on our tails, and we’ll be tried as deserters since this is an unauthorized mission.” He sighed. He hated not having a sound plan!

Before he could speak, Akamaru’s head turned slightly towards the other buildings, and he growled something only an Inuzuka could understand. “He caught the smell of Ino’s blood,” reported Kiba. His eyes were focused away from the building surrounded by people. “Looks like it’s coming from one of those other warehouses, but we’re too far away for him to tell which one.”

Shikamaru could work with that. “So she’s in a place that’s shut off so that neither you nor Akamaru could smell her when you were scouting the area.” He looked at the rest of the team. “We need to neutralize the people in the other areas. We can’t afford to have them acting as reinforcements when there’s so few of us.” He wouldn’t be able to hold Sakura in reserve, not and make this work. “Sai, send those paintings of yours through these other areas where Kiba said her scent came from.”

As Sai slipped into the darkness, Shikamaru outlined the rest of the plan, which came to him on the fly instead of his usual pre-planning. It was a miracle that it made sense. Ino didn’t get close enough to listen; she knew the outcome already. She could feel her energy and chakra draining to low levels, but the memory had her trapped. While she wouldn’t be as bad off once this was over as she was after facing the Hyuuga, she would be very weak and wouldn’t be able to perform any ninjutsu or genjutsu for a while. Ino struggled to remain alert and pick up any telltale signs of why this would be one of his important memories, but so far nothing surfaced.

When the third member of Team Seven returned with her whereabouts, the group split, and Ino followed Shikamaru towards one of the warehouses close to where she was. Watching Shikamaru’s back, the kunoichi tried to get her focus to return. He was alone; if something happened, it would probably be now. Events would be moving too fast for him to do anything much later. With a small, silent motion, he drew a kunai and had cut through one man’s throat before she even knew that someone was close enough to reach. This Shikamaru was ruthless, something she hadn’t witnessed in all her time being on the same team as him; he used his shadows to bind his quarry and cut through them, leaving no survivors. When Shikamaru briefed the others, he had said to take a few captives so that they could be questioned at a later time, but he wasn’t following his own advice. It was like he had forgotten his own orders.

After the bloodbath, she saw him dart towards one of the other buildings, presumably the one she was held in, but Sakura intercepted him underneath one of the overhangs. “Shikamaru!” she hissed, grabbing his wrist. “The captives are by that large copse of evergreens, but they won’t stay unconscious for long.”

Oh, how he wanted to strangle Sakura! Ino could feel it and see the agitation in the shadows around them, and his thoughts were roaring his frustration at being kept from Ino when she needed him. However, logic kicked in, and without more than a curt nod, he changed direction and stalked after Sakura to the cluster of trees where the unconscious captives lay slumped in their bonds. While he set about linking them to his shadow, Sakura bounded away to be ready for the rescue. They had been quiet so that they wouldn’t tip off Ino’s captors that they were there, but once he started hearing the crashes of buildings crumbling, probably due to either Naruto or Kiba and Akamaru, he knew that they had gotten Ino out. There was no chance that they didn’t; if he started thinking like that, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself together, and those unfortunate captives would be the first to feel his wrath.

Shikamaru checked the vitals of the captives, and since none of them showed signs of regaining consciousness, he ran back into the complex and leaped onto the roof of the nearest warehouse. As he approached, he heard Sakura tell Naruto to carry her. The idea of someone else carrying Ino while she was so vulnerable struck a chord deep in the shadow-user. That was his job! When she left her body, it was entrusted to him for safekeeping, and he would be damned if he let someone else take that from him! “No, I’ll do it,” he stated, striding towards them. “She’s my teammate.”

The scene started to get wavy around Ino. She could still hear them, but it was so hard to remain alert. Her chakra was dangerously low, but she couldn’t shake off the memory. As she fell to her knees, she saw Shikamaru cradle her sixteen-year-old self against his chest. Even through her semi-conscious haze, she felt the protective rush emanating from him and the relief that she had sustained no long-lasting injuries. His emotions almost knocked her over; they would have if she hadn’t already been on the ground. Her breath started coming in wheezes, and she had to close her eyes as dizziness overcame her. _I was wrong, this is going to be worse than the Hyuuga draining,_ she thought, her mind already going muzzy. This was not good; if her chakra got too low, her bonds with Shikamaru’s mind would snap, and there was no way he wouldn’t feel it since it would backlash on him too. As she struggled to move her arms so she could make the release symbols, it felt as though she was back inside the memory, experiencing it all over again as herself. She had the odd sensation of being held, like when she was little and sat on her father’s lap. However, it was accompanied by the emotions emanating from Shikamaru’s memories, making her feel like she was floating on a wave of safety. A few other emotions started to add their colors to the emotion current, but Ino was too exhausted to do more than make a mental note that they were there and to examine them later. That was the last conscious thought she had before her chakra gave out, and she was thrown into a black sea of nothing.


	14. Chapter 14

Ino’s body hurt. That was the first thing she noticed, and she noticed it before she even opened her eyes. It felt like every chakra node and pathway running through her body was on fire. Her body wanted to writhe, move, be active in the chance that the pain would recede, but she couldn’t even move her pinky. She welcomed the pain.

By rights, she should be dead; she remembered learning about chakra draining back in the Academy. If a shinobi drained his chakra levels completely, then his body shut down, and either he died or else spent months repairing the damage. It took years to completely recover, however, if it happened at all. Since she was in pain, that meant she was still alive. Not in fighting condition, but she had to count her blessings as they came. It was hard to see the silver lining, though, as fiery threads and knots laced through her entire body, making it hard to even think.

A cool hand brushed her hair away from her feverish skin and gently cupped the back of her head. As her upper body was raised into a sitting position and supported against the body of the other person, the pain intensified to the point where she almost cried out; if she’d had control of her vocal cords, she would have. Behind the curtain of pain, she felt the edge of something smooth and hard against her bottom lip. The angle changed slightly and a steady trickle of thin fluid ran into Ino’s mouth and down her throat. She would have gagged if she could. It was the nastiest-tasting stuff she had ever had, including the soldier pills Sakura gave her. If Ino’s muscles had been working properly, they would have contracted in protest, but because she had no motor control whatsoever, she didn’t even flinch. Her disgust with whatever the person just gave her was nearly enough to overcome the pain in her body.

When she awoke next, she was not only able to open her eyes, but she could slowly push herself into an upright position. The room was dark; no moon or stars were visible from the window by her bed, but faint tinges of red stretched over some of the buildings, signaling that dawn was fast approaching. Testing her luck, Ino pushed the sheets off her legs and twisted so her feet were just a few inches above the ground. _My body feels pretty healed,_ she thought, wiggling her toes. _I wonder how much time’s passed…_ Giving herself a slight push, she jumped off the bed and stumbled forward a few steps, but she was able to remain on her feet. She felt along the wall until her hand brushed the light switch and flicked the lights on.

The familiar walls of her temporary room in Shikamaru’s apartment lit up around her. Turning her head, she looked into the mirror on the vanity. Her pale skin looked too healthy for an invalid. For her to even be moving around like this, she had to have been bedridden for at least a few weeks. The brown dye in her hair also was still very brown, but she didn’t feel dirty. _Did Misao take care of me?_ she wondered, examining a lock of dyed hair. The signs didn’t make sense. Even her body didn’t make sense; she was shaky when she first woke up, but now she felt like she had the jitters, like too much energy was coursing through her body. Her chakra channels were all healed, and she could feel her chakra levels back up to their normal levels, which was all wrong with what the Academy taught her and what she had experienced in previous years.

Her eyes started to burn and tear up as she tried to process what she was feeling. Taking out the contacts, she looked into the mirror and saw a Hikari with Ino’s eyes, now unfamiliar eyes. Her sclera was lined with small red blood vessels, but they didn’t look as bad as they were supposed to. She remembered the lecture from Misao when she was just starting to wear them. _“Remember to change these out frequently. If you don’t, they’ll irritate your eyes and cause an infection. Don’t even think about sleeping with them in either!”_ Well, she had done both no-no’s, and that was the most reaction her eyes had? Either she was very lucky or something strange was happening that she couldn’t figure out.

Glancing down, she saw that she was still dressed in her pajamas, which consisted of a plain tank top and pants. With spring on the way, the nights were getting a little warmer, enough that a long-sleeved shirt was uncomfortable to sleep in. Fighting a grimace, she took a small sniff of her tank top. _No smell of old clothes,_ she noted. The faint smell of sweat, yes, but not the smell associated with wearing the same clothes for days on end. She was well acquainted with that smell thanks to certain missions. So she hadn’t been sleeping long enough to make her clothing rank? Did Misao wash her clothes for her but not her body? But Misao would have taken her back to the inn, not left her in Shikamaru’s apartment.

The clock on her wall read six thirty-eight, and the calendar next to it was still opened to the month of March. Outside her window, she saw small children making their way through the sleet-covered road towards the Academy, where classes began promptly at seven. She recognized a few of them as children from the troupe. They were easy to spot because they still had that uncertain look about them while the rest of the Konoha children knew the way like it was their backyard. One of the Konoha kunoichi-in-training grabbed the hand of one of the timid troupe girls and tugged her forward, grinning back at her. The sight brought a smile to Ino’s face, reminding her of when she and Sakura were still that age. _Things have changed so much since then,_ she thought, standing next to the window. _She’s definitely not timid anymore. And I’m not the one who’s driving her forward._

Loud footfalls were the only warning she had. The next thing Ino knew, she was wrapped up in a bear hug and lifted off the ground. “What are you doing out of bed?” demanded Chouji. “You aren’t strong enough for that!”

“Chouji, I’m fine,” she laughed as her large friend tried to force to lie back down on the bed. Of course, he wasn’t going to buy that, and Ino didn’t blame him. However, it was the truth; she was as fit as a fiddle, but she had no explanation why. That lame and false-sounding reply was all she had to offer him. As soon as he let her go, she danced away from him and avoided his attempts to make her go back. “See, I’m okay,” she continued, using her agility as a demonstration of her point. “What are you doing here?”

He glared at her. “I’m here helping Shikamaru take care of you. In-Hikari, you were completely drained of chakra! You were so close to dying you had one foot on the other side already by the time I got here!” Chouji kept his voice low, but the emphasis on certain words conveyed his feelings well enough, as did that suspicious shine in his eyes. “I don’t even know how you’re standing right now. Last night you were still in critical condition.”

Ino shrugged. “I feel great now. How long have I been out of it?”

Letting out a huge breath, Chouji answered, “You went into chakra shock three nights ago. Shikamaru and I have been stuffing you with dissolved soldier pills ever since to try to give you a chakra boost.” Ino could see the new worry lines around his eyes. “It almost didn’t work. You really scared us.”

Now she knew what that disgusting liquid was. She shuddered. _I will never dissolve my soldier pills before eating them,_ she vowed. Then the rest of what Chouji said hit her. “Did you say I’ve only been like this for three days?” She started to pace while Chouji nodded at her. “That can’t be true. Recovery from chakra shock takes way longer than that! And the soldier pills are a last resort because they leave us in really bad shape.” Whirling around, she approached the big man and took hold of his arms. “How is this possible?” she demanded, though she didn’t expect an answer. The possibility of him lying was out of the question; she trusted her teammate without reserve. He wouldn’t lie to her. He had no reason to.

“That’s something I’d like to know,” Shikamaru’s voice came from behind Chouji.

As the Akimichi moved out of the way, Ino’s gaze dropped down at the floor. She couldn’t look at him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. When her chakra gave out, he would’ve felt it and woken up to find her lying across his bed or on the floor and showing symptoms of chakra withdrawal. From there, he probably stuffed soldier pills down her throat and somehow gotten Chouji over to the apartment. Maybe he sent a messenger pigeon. As long as Chouji didn’t blab about who she was, a small possibility existed that her identity was still unknown. It was a very slim hope, but it was all she had.

She could feel his eyes burning holes through her skull, but she refused to look up. Hikari had betrayed the trust of her patient, and Ino was in danger of being discovered. It looked very likely that her relationship with Shikamaru was in tatters, professional and social, possibly romantic also if that was even going anywhere before this. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Chouji shift uncomfortably. “I’ll, um, let you two talk,” he mumbled, squeezing past the shinobi in the doorway.

The silence Chouji left was deafening. Ino scrunched her eyes shut, hoping that this was all just a bad dream and she’d wake up in that bed behind her and everything would be normal. Soft footfalls signaled that Shikamaru was moving, and she sensed when he stood right in front of her. Even without opening her eyes, she could feel how close he was, within reaching distance. Within grappling distance. “When were you going to tell me?” he murmured. His breath tickled her ear.

She didn’t move. The silence lengthened, then he spoke again, just as softly as before. “Look at me.” With two gentle fingers, he tilted her jaw up, and against her will, Ino met his black-eyed gaze with her own blue one. His breath hitched when their eyes met. So much for keeping her identity from him. His sharp eyes studied hers, and she could feel the tension in his fingers that still rested against her lower jaw. In his eyes, she saw his wall go up, but she had trained with him and learned to see beyond his defenses. He had plenty of anger behind that wall, and she didn’t blame him. He was actually taking it better than she thought he would. But behind that anger, the real emotion he was trying to keep from her, was hurt. It took a lot to hurt Shikamaru, so it was a rare emotion for him, but she knew what hurt looked like, and he was doing his hardest to keep her from seeing it. However, even as she watched him, the hurt dwindled, and the anger kept building until it couldn’t be contained anymore. He withdrew his hand from her and punched the wall to his left, leaving behind a fist-sized dent and making Ino jump. “Why?” he demanded, his breathing labored from the effort of controlling his anger.

She could only assume he was talking about why she was had been sifting through his memories. “I was under orders,” she whispered. He had to understand that. Hokage-sama’s orders were law in Konohagakure, especially for shinobi.

As Shikamaru stalked forward, Ino backed up until the bed prevented her from going any further. She sank onto the mattress, and Shikamaru leaned over her. “Hokage-sama suspects me of treason?” he barked. “Tch. There’s no other explanation. Fine. Search me!” Sitting cross-legged right on the floor he glared at her, daring her to do her job. If his anger had been chakra, then all the Akatsuki members attacking together wouldn’t have stood against Shikamaru at that moment. Swallowing, Ino formed the hand symbols and spoke the words. “Shintenshin no Jutsu.”

She didn’t even have time to adjust to being in his mind again before she was overwhelmed with his memories. As soon as she finished with one, another one came crashing down on her, giving her no respite. As a tactician of Konoha, he had access to a lot of restricted meetings with Hokage-sama and the other leaders of Konoha. Ino knew he was forcing his memories on her; she had no time to gain control of what she was seeing, but he was showing her exactly what she was looking for, so it was more important to pay attention to the memories than figure out a way to wrestle control away from her teammate.

It was exhausting work. Ino praised the higher powers that her body was chock full of soldier pills, or else she never would have made it through. Most of the memories consisted of him meeting with Hokage-sama and sometimes the council members and devising strategies for different missions, though quite a few of them were from S-ranked missions. When Ino felt Shikamaru tire, she prompted the next memory on her own, taking control away from him with the practice honed from years of studying mind control from the best of the best.

She could still feel him with her, seething, but he made no move to interrupt her. He probably would have if he’d known that she was accessing more than just the memories that he was aware of. While the main memory replayed itself before their conscious eyes, a different memory revealed itself to Ino in a more subtle way. Not only would it prevent him from knowing that she had incriminating evidence should he be the culprit, but it would keep him from knowing that she had seen private memories that he would not deem relevant to her case. It was in this way that she discovered what had happened after her chakra had given out.

Just as she thought, Shikamaru had woken up from the backlash of the chakra lines snapping her connection with his mind and saw her sprawled across his bed. However, he had become aware of her while the last memory was taking place. The deer had become alarmed while she was in the memory, alerting him that something was wrong. When he arrived, he saw Ino in his memory and known instantly that it was her. He had also known that she was on her last legs of chakra; just the appearance of her conscious state was enough to tell anyone. The shadow shinobi didn’t know why she was there, but he tried to get her back into her body before her chakra gave out. She remembered the feeling of being held right before she had passed out and saw that it wasn’t something she had imagined. Shikamaru had held her in an attempt to give her enough of a chakra boost to send her back to her own body, but he was too late, and when he woke up, Ino was already in the throes of chakra shock. Unable to think of a solution for the first time in years, he stuffed a soldier pill down her throat and sent one of his messenger pigeons to Chouji, forgetting to even write a message for him.

Seeing Shikamaru like that was strange for Ino. This was the Shikamaru that she had been living with for a while, not the Shikamaru she had been seeing in others’ minds from years ago. But he didn’t act like the Shikamaru she remembered from before. While she balanced on the edge of life and death the past few days, Chouji and Shikamaru hovered over her. She had never seen Shikamaru look as anxious as when he stayed by her bedside, willing her to get through this. He hadn’t thought he’d survive losing her a second time. Since Chouji was the one who prepared the dissolved soldier pills, Shikamaru fed the finished product to her. Ino hadn’t been able to move, so he leaned her against his body and coaxed each sip to go down. When the soldier soup disappeared, he still cradled her against him and gently rocked her as though movement and close proximity to him would will her back to life. He only stopped when Chouji reminded him that Hokage-sama and the ruling party of Water Country depended on him to help with the war planning, and even then he let her go with great reluctance. With Ino in such critical condition, he had no time to spare for getting angry at her or what she had done; however, once he heard her voice again, the relief was followed by the slow anger, which led to the events she had witnessed after he entered her room.

When Ino returned to her own body, both she and Shikamaru were drenched in sweat. The sun, which had barely begun to lighten the sky when she awoke, now blazed high in the sky and melted the sleet on the road, turning it into a long line of sludgy muck. Sure, Ino had known it would take a while to go through all his pertinent memories, but she hadn’t planned on doing it in one sitting. She hadn’t planned on doing it today at all. Of course, she hadn’t been sure she’d be alive today. Her heart raced like she had run a marathon, and the energy she received from the soldier pills was already depleted.

Shikamaru looked as bad as she did, but his glare hadn’t diminished in intensity. “Are you satisfied now?” Nor had his voice lost its sharp edge.

She nodded as she lowered her eyes to the ground again. She knew she deserved his wrath, but that didn’t stop the sting she felt. She wanted to cry, but she didn’t allow herself that luxury; shinobi had no emotions, rule number twenty-five. Boy was she bad at following that rule!

With her peripheral vision, she saw the shadow shinobi lean back on his hands and look off to the side, away from her. “So now you’ll report to Hokage-sama that I’m not a turncoat and I actually have been busting my back for the village instead of giving classified information to outsiders?” The angry tone he used carried his bitter feelings about all this very well.

Ino stiffened. She may feel guilty about doing that to him, but that did not give him the right to talk to her like that! Well maybe it did, but that didn’t mean she would just take it. “No,” she snapped back, “I’ll wait for the next target to get back to Konoha. You were the only one left here that I hadn’t crossed off the list.”

Shikamaru stilled. His chest didn’t rise and fall with his breath; his tapping fingers ceased their movement. “There’s more?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to answer, but then she closed it without a word. This was her mission, not his. Unless she planned on including him like she did Chouji, he had no need to know what she was doing, and as of right now she had no intention of including him. Chouji was going to let her have it when she told him, but the two of them alone could handle it. But she would need to make a very convincing argument on why he shouldn’t tell Shikamaru while she wasn’t around because as soon as the two of them were alone, she knew that Chouji would tell him everything he knew. The big man trusted Shikamaru implicitly, and then the Nara would be in on everything whether she wanted him to be or not.

Like her thoughts summoned him, the big man returned with steaming bowls of soup and placed one on the floor beside Shikamaru and the other on the nightstand for Ino. In the part of her mind removed from the tension between her and her teammate, she noted that it was chicken noodle soup, not more dissolved soldier pills like she’d feared upon first seeing the bowls. Flopping onto the chair he dragged over, Chouji looked at his two teammates. “I told you he wouldn’t betray us,” he beamed at Ino. He had no idea what he just walked into.

They both glared daggers at him. “You knew?” asked Shikamaru. His scowl threatened to stretch out his face. “And you didn’t say anything?” Now the glare encompassed Ino too. “How long has this been going on?” The last question was more of a demand, an angry one. As though he were entitled to the answer and been unjustly deprived of it.

While Chouji tried to stammer out a defense, Ino matched his glare with her own. “I told him not to say anything. At the time, you were the prime suspect, and I had no way of clearing you until last night. He did the right thing.” He knew how this worked! He was no greenhorn Genin that stuck his nose in business that didn’t concern him and got offended when he was denied access. But he could have fooled Ino with this sort of behavior.

The rest of the day passed with tension anyone could cut with a blunted knife. The war wasn’t going to stop just because Shikamaru’s world had been rocked and turned upside-down, and he stayed glued to his seat and wrote with an intensity the poor paper didn’t warrant. Ino prepared dinner with Chouji, but Shikamaru ignored the two of them, and Chouji couldn’t make him eat. Ino didn’t even try. Once her anger dissipated, the guilt rushed in to take its place, and she just wanted to stay out of his sight. Tomorrow she would take on her role as Hikari, home assistant to tactician Nara, and take care of his health again, but tonight she couldn’t find the strength. She considered going back to her apartment so she would have some space with what just happened, but she couldn’t go home with blue eyes. Because she had slept with her contacts in, her eyes burned just thinking of touching them.

To her relief, Chouji also stayed the night. He probably didn’t trust them not to kill each other, but for whatever reason, Ino was glad that he was there with her. She offered him her bed, but he assured her that he was fine on the couch. Even though they had slept right next to each other many times on missions, all three of them and their sensei, that was years ago, and Ino had the feeling it would have been awkward all over again if he had taken her up on her offer.

Nine o’clock rolled around. Now was the time she would stop Shikamaru and ban him from working until he got up in the morning, but she couldn’t approach him. The angry aura radiating from him dared her to try and then be prepared to face the consequences of her actions. Whispering a soft good night to him and Chouji, she returned to her room where she tossed and turned for many hours before sleep took her.

Ino was wrong in her assessment of how long it would take her to get back into her role. She couldn’t leave the apartment because her eyes still burned when she attempted the contacts, so she walked around the confines of the small apartment with brown hair and blue eyes. She was lucky that Chouji didn’t have a scheduled mission and stayed with the two of them to act as mediator and help where Ino couldn’t. Shikamaru still wouldn’t talk to her, but he seemed to have forgiven Chouji, so he acted as the go-between. It was childish, but she couldn’t break the wall between them. Even when she got up in the morning and it was obvious that he hadn’t gone to bed yet again, she couldn’t tell him off. The betrayal she saw in his eyes when he looked at her beat her away, and she could barely look at him because the guilt threatened to drown her.

Almost a week later, Ino was ready to get back to work, go see Mika, do anything to get out of the oppressive atmosphere of Shikamaru’s apartment. The morning was chilly, but at least the grass was pushing its way through the snow again. She smiled at the brave greenery outside her window and turned to the door. Taking her warm throw-blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders, she walked out into the living room and saw Chouji at Shikamaru’s table. He was taking plans from the finished stack and strapping them to the pigeons’ legs. “Good morning,” she called to him as she walked over. “Why are you doing this?”

The big man grinned at her and sent another pigeon out the window. “Good morning, Ino,” he greeted her. “Shikamaru finally went to bed, so I want to let him sleep as long as possible.” Another paper went into the carrier strap. “These should last for a while. How are your eyes doing? Have you tried putting those contacts back in?”

Ino blinked a couple times. “I’ll try again today, but I should be okay.” She smiled. “I think it’s time for me to get back to my real job. Has anyone come back from the front lines this week?”

Shaking his head, Chouji glanced in the direction of Shikamaru’s bedroom. “You know,” he started, “you could ask Shikamaru to recall your targets from the fighting. It would be easier to get a hold of them then.”

He had a point. He had a really good point. Ino sat next to him and folded her hands together, resting her chin on them. She did not want to involve Shikamaru; he had so much on his plate already, and he would insist on being active in her mission as well if she included him. Maybe not, though, if he held true to his current behavior, but then he’d probably be unwilling to help anyway. And she really had no right to ask him for help.

By her side, Chouji shook his head. “What am I thinking?” he said. “You two won’t even look at each other. But we’re a team; I’m sure he’ll come around. I can ask him to send one of them back in the meantime.”

She sighed. “Chouji, I would appreciate if he did that for me, but I don’t want him involved in this. Look at how much he has to do already,” she continued when he opened his mouth to protest. “He has more to do than you do, and you know he’ll take on even more if he knows about my mission. His body can’t handle anymore.” He still wasn’t back in top shape even with her caring for him for weeks!

Ino’s point was just as good as Chouji’s. If Shikamaru would agree to send back who she needed and not ask questions, then that would be the ideal scenario, but of course he would demand more than that. He had to know how dangerous the mission was, or he would if he knew about the mission in its entirety. When she went through his memories, she saw how scared he was of losing her again. Terrified might come closer to the feeling she uncovered. He wouldn’t take a back seat to any of this if she told him what was going on, regardless if he was upset with her or not.

Once she got her contacts back in and told Chouji she’d be going for the groceries that day, Ino stepped out into daylight for the first time in a week. Breathing deeply, she let the chill air fill her lungs and relished the feeling of freedom. _Now I can get some peace,_ she thought as she headed to the market. The tension and the guilt she felt were driving her crazy! Even with her little shadow that attached itself to her as soon as she left the apartment, this was much better than being under Shikamaru’s betrayed and angry aura all day. A small part of her felt anxious about leaving Chouji and Shikamaru alone, but she felt like Chouji agreed with her assessment of Shikamaru’s work load and his body’s ability to handle it. Plus the big man didn’t know who the remaining targets were, only the ones she’d needed his help to get to in the past.

After she finished with the groceries, she took the long way back to Shikamaru’s apartment, unwilling to go back to the tension-filled space. Wandering through the residential area for shinobi, she watched some children play in the snow while some of the older ones threw kunai at targets set up on some poles. One kunai missed the target completely and stuck itself in the head of one of the snowmen. The momentum took the head of the snowman off, and it rolled down the front of the body to land upside-down on the ground. The children working on that snowman cried out in indignation, and before Ino could blink twice, snowballs filled the air. One fat snowball would have hit her basket of groceries, but she pulled it out of the way in a nick of time.

Ino had to dodge several other snowballs before she made it out of their range of fire, but she didn’t mind the exercise. She had gone out during the night in the past week, but she didn’t stay out long because her body wasn’t used to strenuous exercise anymore. Searching Shikamaru’s mind in one day had zapped the strength given to her by the soldier pills. Adjusting her basket, she ambled along and found herself near the Hokage Tower. A glance upward towards Hokage-sama’s office windows revealed no silhouettes or moving shadows. Ino sighed and shook her head. _They can’t expect Shikamaru to run this war by himself._ Maybe they were in one of the inner conference rooms…maybe.

Movement to her right made her glance over and tense, ready to spring out of the way of a wayward snowball again, but instead she saw Haruno Sakura and Naruto examining the fork of a tree. Ino blinked, but that pink hair and shocking orange clothing were hard to mistake for someone else. _What are they doing here?_ Ino wondered as she approached the other woman’s back. _They’re supposed to be at the front lines._ “Haruno-san,” she called, but the woman didn’t turn to look at her. Instead, she grabbed a beeping pager clipped to her belt and frowned down at it. As she strode away from the tree, she was already putting on an earpiece and speaking into the microphone. “Yes, I’ll be at the hospital soon,” she assured whoever was on the other end. Naruto followed after casting one last look at the tree, a frown on his face.

They must not have heard her call Sakura’s name. Neither one of them was known for ignoring people. Taking her gaze away from the retreating backs, she wandered over to the tree her friend and her teammate had been so intent on. It didn’t look unusual to Ino’s botanist eye. The young oak still had most of its bark intact, and its leaves were trying to sprout on bare limbs. She brushed the accumulated snow out of the tree’s fork, but she still didn’t see anything unusual. Running her hand over it, she felt the chakra of the tree running from its roots to the top of its branches. Wait a minute, chakra? Animals and people had chakra, but plants did not. Not usually. Leaning closer, Ino placed both hands on the tree and closed her eyes. Nope, it wasn’t the normal fauna’s chakra that she sensed, it originated from the tree.

Ino spent the next few minutes trying to determine why so much chakra resided in the tree, and the only conclusion she found was it was some sort of genjutsu, but it was on a specific trigger. Since it didn’t go off with Ino examining it, she decided to leave it alone. Still, Ino marked the tree and started moving away. She would keep an eye on it. If Sakura and Naruto were examining it so closely, then neither of them had put it there, and they were concerned enough about it to look into it.

Before she had taken two steps, an ANBU member appeared in front of her. “Lochia-dono wishes to see you,” he stated before whisking her off to wherever Lochia-dono was. Ino didn’t even have time to protest.


	15. Chapter 15

With her brusque handling, Ino expected some sort of interrogation to take place, and she was deathly afraid that Lochia-dono had found out that Mika was the one her husband was having an affair with and wanted to confront Ino about it. However, the woman greeted her with a bright smile when the ANBU deposited her before the queen. “You are the woman that helped me when I got lost, am I right?” the woman began.

Ino was still trying to stop her world from spinning. “Yes, Lochia-dono,” she replied, using the other woman as a focus. “But how did you recognize me?” It was dark when they met, after all, and they were only together for a short time. A better question would be why she summoned her out of the blue.

“I’m not sure,” the woman confessed. “I looked out the window and saw you next to that tree. Somehow, I just knew that it was you, and I asked this gentleman to get you for me so I could thank you.” She gestured to the ANBU behind Ino.

If it had been anyone else saying that, Ino wouldn’t have believed it. The chances of getting the right person were so slim they might as well be nonexistent. However, this little woman had none of the telltale signs that she was lying or hiding something, and Ino knew what to look for. Her reasons for dragging Ino into the Tower were exactly what she stated they were. “There is no need to thank me.” The kunoichi adjusted the basket on her arm. Good thing she didn’t get anything that needed to be kept cold! Chouji wasn’t going to know what happened to her; she was only supposed to be gone for a few hours. She doubted Shikamaru would care.

The queen also looked at her basket. “Oh goodness, I interrupted you while you were shopping. Do you need to return?”

Ino almost said yes, but the lonely expression on the queen’s face stopped the words in her throat. “Not at all, my patient has a friend looking out for him right now,” Ino’s mouth said without input from her brain.

The smile her statement elicited lit up Lochia-dono’s face. Ino felt the ANBU retreat a fair distance away so he wouldn’t intrude on the two women. Linking her arm through Ino’s, which made Ino feel the urge to shy away due to the strange situation and her inability to react quickly with the smaller woman latched onto her, Lochia-dono led her through the halls to the suite where Ino presumed she and Toya-dono resided. It was a nice set of rooms, the walls a pale green and decorated with scenic landscape paintings. A small water fountain in the middle of the room where Lochia-dono led her filled the air with a soft tinkling. The water must have been scented because Ino could smell lilacs and roses, but not a trace of either flower was visible anywhere around the room. The leather couch squeaked when Ino sat down, startling her. She hadn’t expected it to be so loud.

The woman must have wanted company for some time because she kept up a constant stream of chatter at Ino, about her home in Lightning Country and in Water Country, and she asked Ino questions about the troupe and what she thought of Konoha so far. When the talk died down, Ino asked the question that had been on her mind ever since Lochia-dono took her back to this room, which was devoid of both Toya-dono and Tsunade-sama. “Why are you not planning the war with Hokage-sama? My patient is the tactician of Konoha,” she hurried to explain. It wouldn’t do her any good to make the queen suspicious of her. “So I know that he corresponds with Hokage-sama and you and your husband about the war plans, yet here you are.”

Lochia-dono’s brown eyes dropped to her hands. “I’m afraid my presence is a hindrance to this war effort,” she whispered. Her clasped hands in her lap held a small tremor. “I don’t understand how this happened.” The queen looked up and met Ino’s eyes; her own held unshed tears. “It took me years before Toya returned my feelings. Then we come here and some woman steals his heart in a fraction of the time. I know he’s seeing someone here.” Now the tears fell, and her voice broke. “He sneaks out when he thinks I am asleep and doesn’t return until early morning. I don’t know how to deal with this.” She buried her face in her hands.

This was not what Ino had expected to deal with when she decided to leave the apartment that morning. She was just some stranger who happened to lead the lost queen to Hokage Tower, and now the queen seemed to think they were close enough that she could pour her innermost secrets to her. For a leader, Lochia-dono was pretty naïve, at least in Ino’s opinion. She knew next to nothing about the sobbing woman in front of her and was at a loss as to what she should do. Ratting out Mika wasn’t an option, but maybe she could show support? The woman was one of the pillars of Water Country, but this pillar had several deep cracks in it and looked close to splitting. Setting aside her basket, she reached out and held Lochia-dono. The other woman grabbed onto Ino like she was her lifeline and cried into her shoulder while Ino comforted her as best she could.

It seemed like forever and a day passed before the crying subsided. “I’m so sorry for breaking down like this,” the woman apologized when she calmed down enough to talk again. “I’ve had no one to talk to about my worries since I came here, and it all just spilled out.”

Ino assured her that she had nothing to apologize for, though she still felt disconcerted about what just transpired. “If you feel that alone, why don’t you return to Water Country or Lightning Country?” she suggested. _It’s not like you’re doing anything useful here._ That was a mean thought, but she had seen Shikamaru driving himself into the ground for Lochia-dono and her husband’s war, and here she was, twiddling her thumbs and preventing the meetings from going smoothly.

Shaking her head, the queen sighed. “I want to,” she answered, looking at her hands. “But I can’t do that. It is the job of a ruler to protect those under your protection. I came here to help end the war, and I mean to. Right now, my presence prevents my husband from focusing on what he needs to, and I need more time to find the strength to get through this.” Glancing up, her eyes met Ino’s, and the kunoichi saw the worry Lochia-dono felt. “I can’t let my father find out about this. Without his support, we cannot win this war, even with the help of the Konoha shinobi. Despite with my husband being unfaithful, I still love him and want to protect his people.”

_Wow, that’s dedication._ Ino was impressed. There’s no way she’d stay loyal to a man she knew was cheating on her. “If you still want to help with the planning, come to the tactician’s home.” It was a good thing Shikamaru wasn’t here to hear her say that. She could just imagine the sort of scowl she’d get from him. “Your husband wouldn’t be distracted by your presence, but you’d still contribute to the war effort.” Despite Ino’s initial feelings toward Lochia-dono, she had to admire the woman putting the needs of the many before her own. And she had heard that Lochia-dono’s input held as much weight as Toya-dono’s, so it wasn’t like she didn’t know what she was doing and would just bother Shikamaru. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d go all the way to Shikamaru’s apartment just to have a war meeting. She was a queen. People came to see her, she didn’t go see them.

So it was with much surprise that Ino saw Lochia-dono consider her words and nod. “I would like that,” she told the shell-shocked Ino. “I’m sure one of the gentlemen that follow me around will take me there. Or perhaps Tsunade-sama would be willing to tell me. Or I could accompany you back. You were going to see him before I stopped you, yes?”

The whole decision happened faster than Ino could take it in. “Oh, I…yes, he still needs to be careful when he’s moving, so I do most of the mundane tasks and make sure he doesn’t overdo it.”

“Then let’s not keep him waiting any longer.” With that, Lochia-dono grabbed the basket by Ino’s feet, rose, and marched toward the door, leaving Ino with no choice but to follow in her wake and wonder how this happened. The image of Shikamaru’s scowling face rose in front of her mind again. No, he would not be pleased when the queen showed up on his doorstep claiming this was Ino’s idea.

Lochia-dono’s way took them to the opposite side of Hokage Tower than where Ino entered, so they were closer to the shinobi residential area. Taking the lead, Ino led the queen and her unseen ANBU shadow through the streets to Shikamaru’s small apartment complex. She tried taking back the basket so Lochia-dono didn’t have to carry it, but the woman insisted on keeping it, so Ino didn’t press the issue. Pushing open the door to Shikamaru’s apartment, the kunoichi stepped through and held the door open for the queen. The ANBU had to know who lived here; he’d stay outside and keep a peripheral guard. “I’m back,” she called. “Sorry it took so long.”

Chouji’s worried face appeared from the living room. “What happened, Hikari?” he asked, walking over. He stopped short when he saw who she was with. “Lochia-dono,” he stammered. “What are you doing here?”

In the kitchen, Shikamaru must have heard him because a loud thud came from that area, and then the man himself materialized. Yup, the image of him in Ino’s mind from before matched the look he gave her now, though not where Lochia-dono could see him. Schooling his expression to a more neutral one, the shadow-user joined Chouji where the queen could see him. “What brings you to my home, Lochia-dono?” he asked.

Looking him square in the eye, the freckled woman responded, “I wish to work with you on the war plans. As you cannot come to Hokage Tower, I will come to you. Is this acceptable for you, Nara-san?” Ino had to admit, the woman’s posture screamed of authority and made her question more of a nicety that she already knew the answer to. And she did it while barely reaching Shikamaru’s chin. Maybe Ino should take notes on what the queen did so she could use it.

It wasn’t like Shikamaru could tell her no. Gesturing for her to follow him, he very obviously refrained from looking at Ino again and led the queen into the kitchen, and Ino and Chouji looked at each other in the hall. “Was she the reason you took so long?” Chouji whispered as Ino finished removing her boots.

“Yes, and you wouldn’t believe how it happened.” Walking into the kitchen, she took her basket back from the otherwise-engaged queen and started putting away her groceries with Chouji. She whispered what had happened to him and finished when the groceries were put away and they sat in the living room before the fire. Lochia-dono and Shikamaru were still making plans in the kitchen. “But I can’t believe she took me up on it and came here,” she ended, looking towards the two at the table. Now they were moving pieces around a shogi board and gesturing all over the place.

“I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it,” admitted Chouji. “Even Hokage-sama would send pigeons instead of coming all the way here just to talk to him in person. Is this what’s going to happen from now on?”

“I don’t know.” She was pretty sure Shikamaru hoped this was a one-time excursion, but it didn’t bother her one way or another. “She looked so lonely at the Tower, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it did become regular. Especially after this.”

Sunset was long past by the time the meeting stopped. At nine o’clock, they were still going strong, but Ino, as Shikamaru’s home assistant Hikari, had to at least pretend to take care of him. She rose from the couch and walked behind Shikamaru so the queen could see her but the shadow shinobi could not. The queen noticed her right away. “Do you need him?” she asked, breaking off her conversation.

Ino nodded. “It is time for Nara-san to retire, doctor’s orders. And it is late, Lochia-dono. You did not inform anyone where you would be going. I’m sure the people in Hokage Tower are worried about you.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” the queen agreed, though shadows entered her eyes. The queen’s thoughts didn’t match her spoken words, but Ino wasn’t going to call her out on it. “Thank you for your time, Nara-san. Would you mind me joining you again tomorrow?”

He stood as she did and walked her to the door, a perfect gentleman. “I am yours to command,” he murmured. Once again, Shikamaru ignored Ino even though she stood only a few feet away from him. “Do you need me to call someone to escort you back to Hokage Tower?” he asked.

“No, I’ll take her back,” answered Ino instead. “She has an ANBU guard already, so I’ll go for the company. Please go to bed in the meantime, Nara-san.” Even though they were acting in their respective roles, it hurt talking to him. The eyes that barely glanced at her still held the anger she deserved. Maybe she would just go back to her own apartment tonight, let them both get some distance. She’d think about it once she dropped Lochia-dono at Hokage Tower safely. If she did it now, she might start crying like the queen did earlier.

When they stepped outside the apartment, the kunoichi felt the presence of another just out of sight, but only one. Apparently her own shadows didn’t feel the need to follow when the ANBU were on the job. Just like earlier, Lochia-dono dominated most of the conversation, thanking Ino for taking her to Shikamaru-san and letting her feel useful again. “I feel like you’re the closest friend I have here,” the blond woman said. “Even though it was by chance, I feel like fate brought us together.”

Fate. The inevitable. Hitsuzen. Yuuko-san’s words sprang to Ino’s mind. She hadn’t even thought about that woman with her strange shop in years. _She said she’d grant my wish to protect my village._ Glancing at the talking woman beside her, Ino wondered if this was that woman’s doing. _Who from a ruling family would trust so easily?_ Not someone from Fire Country, that’s for sure. _Helping her be productive not only helps her country, it prevents more Konoha shinobi deaths. I guess this is one way of protecting my village._

The back entrance of the Hokage Tower came into sight. By her side, Lochia-dono sighed and turned to Ino. “Thank you for today. I know I imposed on you quite a bit. Since I’m meeting with Nara-san more, I will see you more as well, but don’t be a stranger.” With a final smile, the queen walked back to the Hokage Tower, the ANBU shadow leaving with her.

As Ino watched Lochia-dono’s retreating back, the smile slid off her face as she contemplated her next move. _It would be better for me to go home tonight,_ she decided, moving off in the direction of her apartment with Mika and Sayo. At this time of night, the apartment would be empty thanks to Mika going to “work” and needing either Shin or Kagura to watch Sayo for the night. As much as she would’ve liked to see them, it was better that they weren’t there now. Ino needed some alone time to think about how to approach her next target. Scratch that, she needed time to think about how to get by with her relationship with Shikamaru now in tatters. The kunoichi didn’t have the stamina to deal with that and her mission at the same time, not until she’d distanced herself from everything first.

When she awoke the next morning in her own bed, she didn’t feel one hundred percent better, but she was better than when she awoke in Shikamaru’s apartment and walked out into that oppressive atmosphere. His feelings permeated the whole apartment, but here in her apartment, none of that was present. As a result, she had more energy in her movements as she readied herself for the day and smiled when she looked in the mirror. It wasn’t a big smile, but she didn’t smile at all at her teammate’s home.

By the time she walked out of her home, she was ready to tackle being Hikari again. She even re-dyed her hair and sprayed perfume to hide the telltale dye fumes. Mika was sleeping when she walked out the door, so Ino didn’t have time to say anything to her. Breathing in the scent of fading winter, Ino made the trek to Shikamaru’s apartment on a road already muddy and devoid of white due to the heavy traffic it already experienced. Pakkun, one of Kakashi’s summoned dogs, trotted past her legs and looked back at her with narrowed eyes and a frown. However, it only lasted a second, and he proceeded to ignore her and continue on to his destination.

Arriving at Shikamaru’s apartment, she let herself in and removed her boots before entering. “It’s Hikari,” she called as she knocked the mud off the boots and turned to set them down on the shoe rack only to stop when she saw a pair of undeniably female shoes already resting on them. _Those aren’t mine,_ she thought as she bent closer to examine them. They were too small to fit her, and they looked more expensive than anything she owned unless Hokage-sama supplied them for a mission. _It can’t be…_

Unfortunately, Lochia-dono came into Ino’s view, confirming Ino’s train of thought. The queen didn’t seem to notice Ino’s consternation that the woman was here so early. “Hikari-san,” she greeted her with a big smile. “I didn’t realize you hadn’t started work yet. I should’ve asked you when you started before we parted ways yesterday.”

Behind the queen stood Chouji in the kitchen with a skillet in hand and a not-quite-awake look in his eyes. While the Akimichi wasn’t considered a morning person, he was usually more alert than this. With the limited information she had, Ino could guess what happened, and she felt sorry for her teammates. Well, she’d only feel sorry for Shikamaru if he was in bed like he was supposed to be. Setting her boots down on the rack, Ino returned the queen’s smile with a much smaller one. “Yes, I don’t start work until nine,” she responded. “Is Nara-san awake yet?”

“I’m afraid I woke both of them up when I arrived a little while ago,” answered Lochia-dono as she and Ino walked into the space where Shikamaru set up his work station. Already Lochia-dono had her own corner carved out and her plans written down. “Tomorrow I won’t come so early.”

Because the kitchen table was cluttered with Shikamaru and Lochia-dono’s plans, breakfast was set out across the island counter and served buffet-style. Chouji woke up more once he got some food down, and Shikamaru gave the appearance of being alert when he stepped out of his bedroom to join them. The shock of having Lochia-dono appear once again at his doorstep did a great deal to get his mind moving. Ino was sure he wasn’t happy about having his territory invaded, but he was resigned to it happening after she came here again. At least he didn’t appear annoyed, and from the bits she witnessed last night at their impromptu planning session, the small blonde could keep up with Shikamaru’s train of thought. Glancing between the two in question, Ino thought, _Maybe this will work out._

Several days straight of Lochia-dono arriving at nine thirty on the dot and staying until Ino left for the night with no explosions in between proved Ino’s hopes right. Lochia-dono was a match for Shikamaru to bounce ideas off and get immediate feedback while Ino took care of the household chores. Chouji had his Genin to worry about, so his presence in the apartment was sporadic. However, with Lochia-dono’s presence, that heavy aura that haunted the apartment was no longer present. It wouldn’t do to air dirty laundry in front of someone not involved in the matter, so Shikamaru kept his feelings from showing in front of the queen, and because Lochia-dono was there almost as long as Ino was, the kunoichi only experienced his continued cold shoulder for those first thirty minutes when she first arrived. Thanks to Lochia-dono staying the entire day, Shikamaru didn’t have time for any naps and was forced to sleep through the night in order to keep up with the freckled blonde.

Another night finished up, and Ino and Lochia-dono walked out into the night. Shikamaru said good night to the two of them, though per usual, his interaction with Ino was short and cold, meeting the bare minimum required of him. “The two of you don’t seem very close,” noted Lochia-dono as the two of them walked down the lamp-lit road, their constant ANBU tail trailing them. “Haven’t you been watching him for a long time now?”

Ino sighed. “Yes, but even at the beginning, he didn’t think he needed a home assistant. He’s recovered to the point where I’m more housekeeper than assistant, but they haven’t reassigned me yet. I’m sure he thinks I just get in the way.” It still hurt to talk about him. That ache in her chest tried to prevent her from speaking, but she pushed through it and kept up her calm façade.

Upon arriving at the Tower, Ino bid Lochia-dono good night and watched as the woman approached the front entrance. The sight wasn’t usual, and Ino paused to wonder why before realizing they were at the front entrance instead of the back entrance where they usually parted ways. The queen’s steps took her closer and closer to the entrance, right past the tree with the genjutsu.

A tingle ran over Ino’s skin as she felt the genjutsu release. “Lochia-dono, wait!” she shouted, running towards the woman. _Why isn’t the ANBU moving?_ The presence she felt hadn’t moved until she did, and it was slower than she expected. As it approached, she realized with a sinking feeling that it wasn’t an ANBU at all. It was Kureha, her little shadow. _Where is the ANBU?_

With a burst of speed, Ino reached Lochia-dono and knocked her down, but she arrived right in time to bear the full brunt of the released genjutsu. Her senses scrambled, and she couldn’t tell up from down. The solid ground rushed up at her. She tried to catch herself, but her arms wouldn’t cooperate, and she fell flat on her face. Somewhere above her, two kunai clashed with their characteristic clang, and Ino felt a small amount of relief. The Genin had made it in time to block whoever was after the queen.

Gathering enough chakra in her impaired mind took longer than she wanted, but when she had it, Ino smashed through the genjutsu and found herself surrounded by people dressed entirely in black except for the crest on the front of their shirts. Behind her, she felt the small Genin kunoichi and Lochia-dono crouched near her. _That’s not the insignia of Earth Country’s shinobi,_ Ino noted. As far as she knew, no one used a black bat on a red background as their insignia. But then who were these people?

She didn’t get a chance to find out because the ones in front of her parted before the swinging sword that appeared behind them, and Ino found herself looking at an enraged Kurogane. She had never seen him this angry before. Even when he fought bandits while they were on the road, he never lost his cool. The Kurogane in front of her held only black fury. With a loud roar, he engaged the mysterious enemies. She tried to get up to assist him, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. “Are you alright, Hikari-san?” asked Syaoran. He also had his sword out.

Nodding, she finished pushing herself up and found Lochia-dono clinging to her arm. “What’s going on?” asked Ino. They were surrounded, but they hadn’t approached them yet. “Who are these people?”

“We’ve seen them before,” answered Syaoran grimly. “They’re enemies of ours, and I think I know who summoned them.”

Before she could ask more, the others decided to stop dawdling and approached the stationary group. Syaoran was on his feet in an instant and deflecting the thrown kunai from the women. Ino put her hand on the hilt of her own kunai and moved Lochia-dono between her and Kureha. “Stay down, Lochia-dono,” she told the frightened woman. “We will protect you.” _Why hasn’t anyone else come? They can’t possibly miss all the racket we’re making. Unless…_ Yes, that genjutsu that hit Ino earlier hadn’t been the only trap waiting in that tree. If Ino’s guess was right, then the first released genjutsu was to attack whoever triggered it, and a second ninjutsu trap layered deep under the top genjutsu prevented any noise from leaving a certain area. That was a tricky set-up, but it worked, and now all of them were stuck in the traitor’s trap.

One of the shinobi fighting Syaoran must have gotten lucky because the boy was sent flying right into Ino, knocking her away from the queen. As Ino struggled to disentangle herself from Syaoran, she saw two of the black shinobi approach Lochia-dono and Kureha. The little girl, her face white and her hands trembling with fear, put herself between the queen and the two shinobi. One of the approaching shinobi threw a kunai at her with careless grace and used lightning speed to stop right beside the Genin as she deflected the kunai. One hit and she was down, but that move put the attacking shinobi in the light, and Ino gasped. “Sakura?” she said aloud, not believing her eyes. But there was no mistaking that pink hair, those jade eyes. She tried to move forward, but her foot was still caught under Syaoran’s body, and she tripped.

While she tried to regain her footing, the other shinobi knelt down by the side of the queen with a smile. “Good evening, Lochia-dono,” Dr. Kyle greeted her. “I’ve been waiting to see you for quite a while.” The lamplight glinted off his glasses. Who would have thought this nondescript man would be part of this? His name wasn’t even on Ino’s list. However, he was still just a civilian. The one to worry about was the woman standing next to him with the limp Genin over her shoulder.

Finally, Ino and Syaoran freed themselves. “Sakura, how could you do this?” cried Ino as she launched herself at her. To her left, she saw Syaoran run for Dr. Kyle, but three of the other shinobi in black intercepted him. Ino drew back her right fist and aimed for Sakura’s cheek, but the woman ducked under it and sent a low kick at Ino’s ankles. Jumping, Ino brought her leg around, and this time she connected with Sakura’s head. The woman went flying, dropping Kureha. The Genin was breathing, to Ino’s relief, but she wasn’t waking up anytime soon. Following Sakura, she attempted to punch her while she was down, but the other kunoichi grabbed her fists, bringing the two to a standstill. “Why are you betraying your village, Sakura?” demanded Ino.

The woman didn’t answer. Looking closer at her face, Ino saw with growing suspicion a blankness than she never saw in her friend. Something wasn’t right, but that wasn’t stopping Sakura from using her full strength against Ino. With a speed that Ino hadn’t known she possessed, the pink-haired kunoichi released one of Ino’s fists, dodged said fist, and slammed her own into the side of Ino’s skull. She hit the ground hard. Her head hurt like crazy, and her vision swam almost as bad as with the genjutsu. A wave of nausea hit her as she tried to rise, sending her back down. Now Ino knew for sure something was up with Sakura; the Hokage’s former apprentice wasn’t following up with her attack. She just let Ino lay on the ground and try to get her bearings. “Sakura?” she wheezed.

“She can’t hear you,” a cheerful male voice answered instead. The doctor stood next to her still friend, his hand on her shoulder and Lochia-dono lying face-down over his own. “My hypnosis only allows my patients to listen to me in this state. She’s been of great help to my work.” He patted her shoulder. Sakura didn’t move or acknowledge the motion. “And the best part is she doesn’t even know she’s the one who has been giving the enemy information. Can you imagine what she’ll do when she finds out?” He sounded as though watching Sakura commit suicide in front of him merited the same excitement as talking about a visit to the grocery store.

“So it was you?” Speaking became difficult when one couldn’t breathe. The words barely reached Ino’s own ears, but the doctor seemed to hear her just fine. Behind him, Syaoran and Kurogane fought to get through the numerous black shinobi, but the sheer numbers overwhelmed the two fighters. “You gave information to the enemy this whole time?”

Approaching her, Dr. Kyle knelt by her head. “I thought something was odd about you when I saw you. My gut feelings are usually right. Zhong Rong and Todou picking you up with the other kunoichi solidified my feelings.” He smiled. “I’m glad I kept an eye on you. Though for them to be in your company so much,” he glanced at the two fighters behind him, “you had to be something special. But who knew you were a hidden Konoha shinobi.” He grabbed her hair and pulled her up so her face was level with his own, making her gasp. “For such a job as this, Tsunade couldn’t have chosen a better wallflower. No one could pick you out of a crowd. I don’t even remember seeing you in Konoha before.”

The pain and nausea disoriented Ino enough that she couldn’t even look the doctor in the eye. He must have gotten his fill of taunting her because he let go of her hair, and she fell back to the ground, hitting it hard. “Take the girl and get rid of her,” she heard him say to Sakura. “I’ll take the queen back to the base. Kill this one before you go and dispose of the body.” He could only be talking about her.

Even though the kunoichi couldn’t see what was going on, she felt Sakura’s approaching footsteps through the ground and struggled to push herself up, move, do anything to get out of the way. Sakura’s foot pushed her over so she was lying on her back and staring into her friend’s blank face. The pink-haired kunoichi knelt by Ino’s head and drew her right fist back without changing her expression. Her gloved hand filled Ino’s vision so much that she didn’t register anything else. That black fist spelled death for Ino; no way could she survive a hit to the head like this.

A whistling sound caused Sakura to hesitate. A second later she bounded backwards as a row of kunai landed in the area she just vacated. Syaoran ran past Ino to engage Sakura while Kurogane stopped at her side and poured something down her throat. _They must have somehow defeated all those other shinobi,_ she thought. As the liquid spread throughout her body, she felt like someone had doused her with a bucket of ice water. However, the icy feeling drove her nausea away, which allowed her to sit up and stand with the help of the man beside her. “Thank you,” she gasped.

He didn’t acknowledge her. His gaze followed the path that Dr. Kyle took with Lochia-dono, she assumed; the fight between Sakura and Syaoran wasn’t where his attention was directed. It didn’t last long, anyway. Syaoran was good, but Sakura was better. He held his own even when she knocked the sword out of his hand; the boy fought just as well unarmed as he did with his sword. However, when she dodged his attempted roundhouse, it put her on his right side, which Ino had noted while training with him was his blind spot. He couldn’t react in time, and the kunoichi sent him crashing into a tree near Ino and Kurogane. The pink-haired kunoichi acted as though she wanted to go after him, but she hesitated. Still with her neutral expression, she instead picked up the still Genin by her feet and bounded away in the opposite direction that Dr. Kyle had taken.

The intimidating shinobi beside Ino hadn’t waited for Sakura to make her decision before he was already moving to get Syaoran back on his feet. He muttered a string of curses as Sakura made her getaway and pulled Syaoran in the direction the doctor had gone. “You take care of the girl, we’ll go after Lochia,” he shouted as they gave chase, not bothering to show the queen respect. But then again, he didn’t show that sort of respect to anyone.

Even if Ino thought that they should all focus their attention on getting the queen back, they were gone before she could argue. Sprinting after Sakura, she felt relief that Kurogane and Syaoran had been there. If she’d been alone, there was no way she could have rescued both the queen and Kureha. In fact, she had come perilously close to having her head smashed in by her best friend. The chances of that scenario happening again were pretty good, and this time she’d be alone. But she was glad that Kurogane had chosen to go after Lochia-dono. If she could trust anyone to get her back, it would be him. Plus the red-eyed shinobi had no reason to hold back against Sakura. He didn’t know her. If what the doctor said was true, then the kunoichi was acting under the influence of hypnosis, which wasn’t her fault. Ino would do what she had to do to stop Sakura, but she would make sure she didn’t kill her; Kurogane wouldn’t have cared if she was dead or alive at the end of the fight.

Sakura was fast, much faster than Ino thought she would be since she was burdened with dead weight from Kureha. That didn’t mean Ino wasn’t gaining on her, but she wouldn’t catch the other kunoichi until they were outside the village unless Sakura lost her footing and slipped. Even though her nausea had abated with whatever Kurogane administered to her, her head still pounded like she was in a blacksmith’s workshop, and she fought to keep dizziness at bay. If she fell behind or lost Sakura, then Shikamaru’s student was going to die.

When Sakura darted through a gate and into the dark foliage beyond, Ino’s heart sank. While she hadn’t gotten out of Konoha, Sakura sought refuge in the site where they first had their Chuunin exams, the so-called “Forest of Death”. Ino had been in and out of that site a few times since then, but finding two lone people in that was like picking a needle out of a haystack. Still, she didn’t have a choice, and it wasn’t like she was so far behind that all hope was lost. Sakura was opting for speed over discretion, so the branches shook and swayed to mark her passage through them. The foliage smacked Ino in the face as she raced after the two kunoichi, but she didn’t have time to spare avoiding them. As she passed through one of the small clearings in the forest, on either side of her reared several upset, oversized centipedes clacking their pincers together in agitation. Sakura had upset them a few seconds before, and Ino’s appearance made them no happier, but she didn’t stick around long enough for them to express their displeasure beyond the pincer and leg waving.

A small, frozen stream lay directly ahead, and for reasons that Ino couldn’t discern, Sakura stopped and laid the small Genin next to it. Ino was just breaking the tree line and saw Sakura kneeling by the awake and terrified Genin’s head with her fist already descending. The vision before her played out like it was in slow motion, and horror filled Ino’s heart. _I’m not going to make it in time!_ But that wouldn’t stop her from trying. Using all the speed she could muster, she rocketed at Sakura. Her eyes stayed glued to the moving fist, unable to tear themselves away. _NO, NO, NO!_ her mind cried as she boosted her feet with what little chakra she had. She tackled her friend and sent them both through the thin ice and into the stream beside them when that deadly fist was a hairsbreadth away from the bridge of Kureha’s nose.

Icy water attempted to enter Ino’s lungs, but she refused to allow it entry. With strong kicks, she broke the surface of the stream only to be drawn back down with a powerful tug from Sakura on her legs. The two grappled underwater, neither one letting the other up for air. Ino was better off than Sakura since she got in a good breath before she was dragged back under, but she was also limited in that she didn’t want to kill Sakura, but Sakura wanted to kill her. It made for a fight that Ino was destined to lose since she couldn’t drown her best friend and save her at the same time.

During their wrestling, Sakura managed to get a knee between their bodies and jabbed Ino in the stomach, successfully driving the remaining air from her lungs. As Ino reflexively released her and attempted not to drown, the other kunoichi kicked back to the surface and disappeared onto the ground. Forcing too much chakra into her feet shot Ino after her, and she gasped as she hit the chilly air above the water. She flipped a kunai into a ready position and landed right on top of Sakura as she crawled towards the immobile Genin. With her weaker hand pinning Sakura to the ground, she brought her dominant hand with the kunai towards her friend’s arm, hoping to sever enough nerves that she wouldn’t be able to use that arm again in the fight, but the pink-haired kunoichi brought her own kunai up to block it. Twisting, she dislodged Ino, flinging her several feet away. The Yamanaka landed on her feet and circled Sakura. With the amount of trouble Ino was giving her, Sakura now had her full attention on Ino and none on the Genin, which was what she hoped to achieve.

They charged each other, kunai and shuriken flying through the air. _Why hasn’t she woken up yet?_ Ino wondered as she performed a deadly aerial dance with the weapons aimed at her. Even with a deep hypnosis, the amount of damage Sakura had already taken should have woken her up from whatever Dr. Kyle had done to her. The dunking she got in the stream just now should have shocked her right out of the hypnosis, but she wasn’t acting like her usual self still. Ino’s breath steamed in the chill air as she and Sakura met again midair with a series of taijutsu kicks and punches. One of Ino’s punches got lucky and slammed into Sakura’s stomach, driving the breath from her. Sakura hit the ground, wheezing, and Ino wasted no time in closing in with a sleep jutsu. Before she could touch her, her pink-haired friend grabbed her approaching wrist and twisted it back towards Ino’s face. Quick reflexes had Ino doing her best limbo impression and ducking her own hand so she wouldn’t put herself to sleep. _I have to go into her mind to dispel the hypnosis,_ she realized with despair. If Sakura hadn’t woken up with all the beatings she’d taken so far, then that was the only course of action left open to Ino. The problem lay in that Sakura, even though she was winded, still had enough control over her faculties that she could dodge the Shintenshin no Jutsu and go for a now-vulnerable Ino before she got her mind back in her own body. She couldn’t rely on Kureha to protect her body; she was no match for a Jounin no matter how Ino sliced it.

While Ino pondered how to save her friend, Sakura regained control of her breathing and crouched, her legs primed for a spring at her enemy. Ino tensed, ready to take her on, and Sakura darted forward. There was no subtlety in the move, just a mad dash towards Ino. At the last second, as Sakura’s arm slashed forward with a kunai ready to open her from shoulder to hip, Ino ducked under her, grabbed her arm, and flipped her onto her back. She straddled her before the pink-haired kunoichi could regain her breath, pinning her arms against her body. _This is my chance,_ she thought as she positioned her hands into the proper seals. _Don’t mess up._ “Shintenshin no Jutsu!”


	16. Chapter 16

Sakura’s mind was no strange landscape for Ino. She remembered her first time in there during her first Chuunin exam and the few times she had entered since then. Inner Sakura had chased her out of her mind before she’d gotten far inside, but once she started training under Tsunade-sama, the landscape of her mind became a room in the hospital with lines of filing cabinets stationed against the walls. This time, though, her mind was a surgery room, and a dying man lay on the operating table. Sakura was alone in the room with the man and working as fast as she could to do what required at least a team of four as a team of one. Each time something was set up, something else beeped or came loose, and she had to rush to solve the new problem. Despite her efforts, the man was still slipping away. Blood and pus oozed from open lacerations, and it looked like he had gangrene in his right foot. Sakura had a determined look on her face, one that said either this patient was walking away alive or they were both going down.

Puzzled by what she saw when she was expecting something else entirely, Ino observed the scene for a few minutes. This was Sakura’s focus, and the whole of it was on this man in a room that was not supposed to be there. “Sakura,” she called, hoping to break the woman’s concentration on the man.

She didn’t acknowledge Ino’s voice at all. Stalking closer, Ino attempted to pull Sakura away from the IV drip. She brushed her aside but still didn’t acknowledge Ino’s presence. Now this was unusual behavior for a consciousness. A normal person would sense that something wasn’t right and investigate and eradicate the abnormality. Because Ino was supposed to be dead, that should have gotten Sakura’s attention in an instant. Ino was doing a good job of making it painfully obvious that she didn’t belong in here, but the consciousness wasn’t giving her any thought at all. Looking back at the dying man on the operating table, Ino grimaced. If she was right, then in order to get Sakura’s mind back where it belonged, this guy had to go. Gathering her chakra, she approached the man and put both hands on his chest. “Sorry,” she told him. It wasn’t like it was his fault that this had to happen. Sure, he wasn’t an actual person, but it made Ino’s insides churn with what she was going to do. Releasing her gathered chakra right into his chest, she stopped his heart.

The effect was instantaneous. He exploded, startling Ino as she was sprayed with intestines and blood and whatever else he had in his body. Immediately her gaze darted to Sakura, who was given the same treatment as Ino, but her white face held disbelieving shock. The medic-nin sank to her knees as she stared at her gore-covered hands. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and her lips trembled. Her breathing increased, and Ino thought she was going to get sick, but instead, Sakura clutched her hair and screamed like she had just witnessed the death of her own child. The scene around them wavered as Sakura’s consciousness threatened to go off the deep end, then the bloody room shattered into tiny pieces and flew in all directions. Acting fast, Ino destroyed any bits that she could sense. If the hypnosis could rebuild itself, then leaving even one shard left behind would ensure Sakura could be influenced without having to repeat the procedure to set it up again.

When the last one was located and destroyed, Ino approached the still-sobbing Sakura. The scene was once again a normal hospital room with filing cabinets, and Sakura lay slumped over a desk, her head in her shaking arms. Walking up behind her, Ino leaned down and touched her arm. “Hey, Sakura, we need to get moving,” she said. A minor part of her mind noted that the gore had disappeared from both their bodies with the dispelling of the hypnosis.

Sakura once again ignored her, and Ino frowned. “Come one, Forehead, snap out of it,” she said with more force, using her old childhood taunt to get a rise out of her.

This time she got a response. Sakura turned a furious face to her, then blinked in surprise when Ino greeted her with a bright smile. “What’s with all the tears?” Ino prodded her, knowing full well why.

“Where’s the man?” Sakura looked around in confusion. Ino didn’t blame her. Since she was hypnotized, she didn’t know what her body had done and didn’t know what was real and what was just in her head. “I was just with a patient…and he…”

Ino didn’t let her finish. “That was just an illusion,” she informed her. “I’ll explain once we’re out of your mind and you’ve calmed down a bit.”

“We’re in my mind?” repeated Sakura, looking down at herself, probably checking for the nonexistent gore that covered them not five minutes ago. She brought her head back up and looked hard at Ino. “Why are you in my mind?” she demanded. “How can you be in my mind?”

Seeing that her friend was slipping back into her previous hysteria, Ino sat down in the chair next to Sakura’s desk and put her hands on Sakura’s shoulders. “I’ll explain once we’re out of your mind and you’ve calmed down,” she reiterated her previous statement. “You won’t recognize where you are, but don’t freak out. We’ll be okay.”

She waited until Sakura nodded and disappeared before leaving her mind. Stirring in her real body caused all sorts of sore muscles to call out for her attention. _I’ll see to you later,_ she promised as she continued to wake her body up. She stretched carefully so she wouldn’t pull anything and sat upright. They were still next to that stream, and not too far away lay Sakura’s still body. The thick rope that bound her looked like they could even withstand Sakura’s impressive strength. Wait a minute, thick rope? Who tied her up? She didn’t carry that kind of rope, and Kureha had no place to hide that amount of rope on her small body. Plus she doubted that Kureha had the strength to tie the rope as tightly as it was. Ino could see it pressing into the kunoichi’s skin.

Not too far away, one dark-haired shadow shinobi sat on the ground, his sobbing Genin plastered to his chest. The poor girl almost died and was seeking comfort from her sensei, the one who was supposed to protect her from harm. Well, that solved the mystery of where the rope had come from and who tied Sakura up. He looked like he was speaking quietly to her, most likely reassuring her that she was all right and the threat was neutralized, but Kureha didn’t look like she was anywhere close to calming down. The moonlight bathed Shikamaru’s face, and he looked like he was on the verge of breaking down, too. Part of the reason may have been because his student was so upset that it was upsetting him, but most likely it was his student’s presence and her need for him to remain strong that kept him from imitating her.

Ino couldn’t find her balance, so with an undignified feeling, she crawled over to the two awake shinobi with many pauses to catch her breath. Her previous dunking in the water and being left in the open air without a cover froze her muscles stiff, and her movements were hampered by both her frozen muscles and the involuntary shivers running through her whole body. Kureha’s back faced her, and Shikamaru had so much attention on his Genin that she took them both by surprise. “Did Sakura hurt her?” she asked Shikamaru through chattering teeth since the Genin wasn’t capable of answering questions at the present time. The girl flinched when she heard Ino’s voice and buried herself further in her sensei’s black turtleneck. Ino couldn’t sit up by herself and slumped against Shikamaru’s side, using him for support.

When she spoke, Shikamaru started, and she found her support shifting as he removed the closest arm from his Genin to wrap around her shoulders and pull her close despite her clammy skin and soaked clothing. Her head ended up in the crook of his neck, and she felt his face in her wet hair. “Thank the kami,” he whispered into her brown locks, his voice breaking. His shoulders started to shake, and Ino put one arm around his back and the other around his still-distraught Genin with a small smile. Since she was now the only one who was dry-eyed, it fell to her to be their support until they calmed down. And she owed it to Shikamaru since he had been holding together until she brought attention to herself, making her the straw that broke the camel’s back. She almost started crying in reaction to the two in her arms and in relief that she had made it in time to save Kureha, but she held it in. When Shikamaru regained control of himself, she would ask what he had done to Sakura. He must have done something because otherwise she would have been awake already.

Because of all the stress in Shikamaru’s life, it took him longer than Ino had estimated for his shoulders to stop shaking. Even his Genin had quieted down some before he became calm again. Once he had his breathing under control, he moved away from Ino, but when she started to fall from the lack of support, he returned to his previous position so she could lean against his side. She did not need his arm around her to stay steady, but she didn’t comment on it. After the fight she just had and her own share of stress, having that warm arm representing security wrapped around her back and his hand resting against her side gave her a welcome feeling of safety. Plus his body heat warmed her chilled body. “Did Sakura hurt you?” she asked the Genin this time since she had stopped crying.

Kureha shook her head and refused to look up. Her sensei looked down at her head with red-rimmed and puffy eyes. “She only has a few scratches,” he clarified for Ino, his voice hoarse. “But I’m taking her to the hospital when we get back. You’re getting checked too.”

“I need to see Hokage-sama,” replied Ino as she shook her head. “She needs to know what happened. And I need to find out if Kurogane and Syaoran were able to get Lochia-dono back.” She had never known either of them to fail, but if they hadn’t returned, she would go after them, bruised body and all. Swallowing a few soldier pills would be enough to see her through. The medic-nin side of her worried about her constant use of soldier pills recently. They weren’t good for her body and she didn’t want her body breaking down on her from overuse. Pain was there for a reason, and she had been ignoring her body’s signals for quite some time now.

Shikamaru frowned at her resistance. “I sent Chouji and Naruto after them. The older guy with black hair made such a racket that everyone was up in arms, but last I saw, they were hot on the kidnapper’s trail.” He shook his head. “They were moving too fast to see who it was, though. Did you get a look at him?”

Nodding, Ino laid her head against his shoulder. She was so tired! “It was Dr. Rondart, Sakura’s boyfriend,” she mumbled. When Shikamaru said he sent those two after Kurogane and Syaoran, relief flooded her, and it sapped her remaining strength. Chouji and Naruto were both strong, and if Kurogane was as loud as Shikamaru claimed, then maybe more followed them. “He used hypnosis on Sakura to control her. That’s how he got the information. She doesn’t remember any of it.” Her words slurred at the end, but he understood Ino’s tired-speak. “We have to tell Hokage-sama.”

As she lay against him, content for the moment to just absorb his body heat, she knew that Shikamaru was thinking of a plan of action and that things weren’t going smoothly when he started muttering curses under his breath. She already saw the problem. He had one weak and upset Genin to protect in a place that was meant to test a Genin’s readiness to become a Chuunin, which she was not, and two full-grown women who were incapable of moving under their own power for long distances. Sakura was incapable of moving at all, bound as she was. Something would have to change. “Kureha,” she said. “Do you have soldier pills on you?” There was no getting around it.

Trembling hands unfastened the tie at her belt, and Kureha presented Ino with a small sack of them. Taking out six, she popped two in her mouth and put the other four in her pocket, giving the rest back to the tiny girl. Ino could already feel the pills taking effect. In just a few more minutes, she’d be able to walk and have enough chakra to protect her companions. She told Shikamaru as much, and he nodded his acknowledgement. “I’ll carry Sakura, so we’re depending on you, Hikari,” he told her. Why he still used her fake name, she didn’t know. Now that she had the person responsible for the leak and the main culprit was out of her grasp, the mission Tsunade-sama assigned her was nearing termination, and she would go back to being Yamanaka Ino. Maybe he didn’t want to blow her cover in front of his Genin since he didn’t think she knew about Ino.

After convincing Kureha to swallow a soldier pill, Shikamaru picked up the hog-tied Sakura and slung her over his shoulder with a grunt. “Let’s go,” he ordered, leaping into the canopy above them with Ino and Kureha hot on his heels. The older kunoichi made sure to keep Kureha in between her and Shikamaru, not only so she could keep an eye on both of them, but the little Genin would have the maximum protection the older shinobi could offer. Even with the soldier pills, of which Shikamaru only let her take one, the little girl was on the verge of slipping off the tree branches. It worried Ino every time she saw the girl stumble since it would be up to her to catch her, but Kureha regained her sense of balance and plowed on. That girl was a trooper!

The residents of the forest left them alone for the most part since the main predators hunted on the ground while they were in the canopy above them, and it was too cold for most sensible creatures to be moving around. Ino did have to scare a few curious and hungry animals away, but the thrown shuriken startled them enough to let the four pass unhindered. However, the stress of being on the lookout for danger without a break ground Ino’s nerves down to stubs, and she knew that once she was relieved of this mission, she would need at least a week before she would be ready for active duty again. She didn’t want to be sent to the front lines with her reflexes going haywire and end up attacking an ally. She was pretty sure she could convince Shikamaru to do that much for her, especially since he seemed so relieved to see that she was well enough to move earlier. That could have been a heat-of-the-moment reaction, but then again, maybe defending his student earned her some brownie points.

When they exited the training grounds and locked the gate behind them, Shikamaru stopped and looked at the two standing kunoichi. “You two go to the hospital,” he ordered. “I’m bringing Sakura to Hokage-sama and reporting.”

“You weren’t there,” argued Ino before he even finished speaking. “I need to see Hokage-sama as well. If she has questions, I’m in a better position to answer them than you are.” She popped the two remaining soldier pills into her mouth and swallowed them dry so she wouldn’t pass out on the way to the Hokage Tower. She already needed to take the other two before they exited the forest, but she made sure neither of her companions saw her. Shikamaru for sure would’ve sent her to the hospital to make sure she didn’t die of soldier pill overuse.

Her teammate did not like her resisting and glared at her. She matched it with her own. To her right, she noticed Kureha glancing between the two of them and shifting her weight. It looked like she wanted to tell Shikamaru something, but she didn’t want to say it in front of Ino. The girl’s mouth opened a few times, but she closed it again without speaking. _If she keeps wasting energy like that, she won’t make it to the hospital,_ Ino noted. Taking pity on her, Ino said, “I think your student has something to say.”

Shikamaru turned his gaze on Kureha and softened his look when she took a frightened step back. “What is it, Kureha?” he asked to speed up the process when she still remained silent.

“I…I think we should all go to see Hokage-sama,” she whispered. “I’ll go to the hospital afterward, I promise! But the lady’s right, we need to report what we saw.”

While Ino didn’t think that Kureha needed to be there, she wasn’t going to give Shikamaru any arguments he could also use against her. For the little girl to be so dedicated to her job earned her Ino’s respect. _Shikamaru, you taught your students good values,_ she thought. Aloud, she stated, “We have a majority vote, so let’s get going. Don’t look at me like that,” she reprimanded the shadow shinobi as his glare returned full-force at her. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner Kureha and I will go to the hospital. And I want to see about the situation with Lochia-dono.” Now Ino took the lead and strode towards the Hokage Tower, leaving the other two to follow.

Because the night was so silent, she could hear the words exchanged behind her. “Shikamaru-sensei,” she heard Kureha attempt to whisper. “That lady is a kunoichi.”

Ino could sense a sarcastic comment coming, but he held it in. “I know,” he told his student. “That’s how she was able to hold her own against Sakura.”

“But she’s from a different village!” The little Genin wanted to emphasize that part. “Should she be going to see Hokage-sama? We can’t tell if she’s a spy or not.”

Shikamaru didn’t say anything for a moment. “How long have you known about her?” Ino knew that was an answer he was looking forward to finding out. It would also put her back in hot water when he realized how long his students had known something about her and he’d had no idea until a little while ago.

“She did something to Chouji-sensei a long time ago, but we caught her. We didn’t see her try anything since then and we’ve been keeping an eye on her when we didn’t have missions to run.”

Ino could hear the gears whirling in his head. “So that’s why you were there tonight. You were watching her.” It wasn’t a question. “Why didn’t any of you tell me about this?”

Glancing back, Ino saw Kureha hang her head and look at her feet. “She didn’t seem like a dangerous person,” she muttered, shame making her voice weak. “We confronted her about what she did to Chouji-sensei, but she didn’t threaten us at all. She said she wouldn’t hurt Konoha, so we just decided to keep an eye on her. I’m sorry, Sensei.” She sounded like she was going to cry again. “We should have told you.” Harsh breathing indicated that the admission caused the waterworks to start again.

Shikamaru’s face held resignation, not anger, and with his free hand, he pulled his Genin to his side in a one-armed hug. “Next time something like that happens, come to me before you do anything else. I don’t care how friendly they seem. I don’t want something like tonight happening again.” Kureha buried her face in his side and cried silently.

At the Hokage Tower, they were admitted to see Hokage-sama immediately, and Ino saw with intense relief that not only were Naruto and Chouji in the room already, but Kurogane and Syaoran stood with them. Lochia-dono was in the arms of her distraught-looking husband off to the side. It looked like the rescue team had just arrived. All the shinobi plus Syaoran looked a little worse for wear, though Naruto only looked like he’d done intense training while the others looked like they went through the same thing Ino did. Dirt, sweat marks, and cuts marked their bodies and clothes, and Syaoran appeared to be favoring his dominant leg. There was no sign of Dr. Kyle.

Tsunade-sama looked up at their entrance, and her eyes went straight through Ino to Shikamaru with her trussed-up apprentice. No one in the room seemed to know how to react and stayed silent as the tactician took the lead and deposited Sakura’s body onto the Hokage’s desk. Hokage-sama looked down at her unconscious student back up to her tactician. “Explain, Nara,” she demanded, a dangerous glint in her eye. Tsunade-sama didn’t look like she was taking the state of her apprentice well.

Shikamaru opened his mouth to comply, but then he closed it again. “We will once the rescue team has made their report,” Ino answered for him. She met Tsunade-sama’s eyes head-on.

“Like hell you will,” growled Naruto. He wasn’t taking it any better than Hokage-sama. “What did you do to her, Shikamaru?”

“You’ll find out after you finish your report,” Shikamaru answered coolly. “I need to get them to the hospital, so make it quick.”

The Jinchuuriki grabbed his shirt and would have hauled him off the floor, but Chouji laid a hand on his arm. “Let’s just get this over with,” he said, glancing between Shikamaru’s neutral expression and Naruto’s furious one.

“Look at what your teammate did to mine!” snapped Naruto, but Chouji had already turned to Hokage-sama and was going through the report. Kureha watched her sensei get manhandled by one of the most powerful shinobi in Konoha with a white face, and Ino pulled her behind her so she wouldn’t have to witness anything more if Naruto lost control. The little girl leaned into her back, and the older kunoichi could feel her shaking. Lucky for all those involved, Naruto let Shikamaru go with just a shove and stalked to the other side of Chouji, adding his two cents when needed.

Even though Shikamaru said to make the report quick, and it was obvious that they were making it as fast as they could, these were details that couldn’t be skimped on. Hokage-sama kept stopping them to clarify a point, and then Syaoran, Kurogane, and Lochia-dono had to tell their side of what happened since they were present at the time of kidnapping. The shaking behind Ino grew stronger, and the woman led the child over to the seats off to the side and sat Kureha down. Shikamaru stood by the Hokage’s desk, so it fell to her to take care of the Genin. Being tired herself, Ino sank down next to Kureha and was surprised when the girl slumped onto her shoulder. After Shikamaru’s talk about suspicious people, she would have thought the girl would be more wary. Then again, she was exhausted and on her last legs, and Ino had almost gotten herself killed defending Kureha against one of the girl’s own village’s top medic-nin. If that didn’t prove trustworthiness, she didn’t know what did.

Then it was their turn to report. The Genin was sound asleep by this time, and Ino didn’t feel the need to wake her. Lying her down across the seats, she walked to Shikamaru’s side and faced Hokage-sama. The room had thinned since the start of the reports. Toya-dono took his wife away to have her cared for once she finished recounting events from her angle, and Kurogane and Syaoran decided to leave after Hokage-sama gave them permission. Ino had been dozing at the time, but she woke up when they walked past. Half-smiling, she gave them the unspoken indication that she hadn’t gained any lasting wounds. Syaoran returned her smile, and Kurogane just gave her a brief nod, but she did see some of the worry in his eyes recede with her admission. Naruto and Chouji alone remained of the first party. The blond-haired man had a feral look in his eyes as his gaze traveled from Sakura to Shikamaru and back. He didn’t even consider the brunette woman beside the Nara. By his side, Chouji looked from Shikamaru to Ino, but he looked both relieved and worried.

Hokage-sama looked between the two adults standing in front of her. “Shikamaru, report,” she addressed the known shinobi. He nodded and started from where he joined the fray. Since Ino already knew what happened with him, she let her eyes rest on Sakura. Her pink hair still dripped with the water from the stream, but at least she had stopped shivering. The office temperature was much warmer than the outside air, and with so many people crowded inside before, it made it even hotter. Her clothes, dried by their dash through the Forest of Death, became damp with sweat while she awaited her turn to speak. But Sakura’s clothing still had the water of the stream keeping her body temperature down. It was a good thing Hokage-sama didn’t have any paperwork on her desk when Shikamaru dropped her on it because none of it would have been legible after her wet clothes lay on them for that long. The scratches from Ino had started to scab over, but her wounds would need to be checked anyway in case bacteria from the stream or their surroundings infected any of them.

When Shikamaru finished with his report, Tsunade-sama turned her fierce gaze on Ino, who brought her attention back to the leader of her village. “Lochia-dono told me that you were there from the start,” she stated, her hands folded before her. The woman looked intimidating. “I desire to hear what you have to say.”

Even though Ino hadn’t been paying close attention to what Shikamaru said, she noticed that he hadn’t included any information that had her doing anything to Sakura. According to him, he had shown up in time to stop Sakura from attacking Ino and his student, but Sakura had already been in her injured state. So now it was time for Ino to confess and pray that Naruto didn’t kill her on the spot on the grounds of being a foreign spy attacking one of his comrades.

She held herself as straight as she could as she recalled the events of the night and kept her gaze on Tsunade-sama alone. In the background, she could hear Naruto prowling around the room, too angry to stay still, and she heard his bark of incredulity when she admitted to being responsible for Sakura’s current state. The Hokage’s eyes showed nothing of her thoughts, and it was only for that reason Ino was able to continue until the end. “I have the person who obtained the information for the traitor, but Dr. Rondart escaped,” she finished. “He couldn’t have gone too far. If Hokage-sama will allow me to rest for a little, I will track him and bring him back.”

Tsunade-sama regarded her with cool eyes over her folded hands. “If what Lochia-dono’s rescue party reported is true, then he will be too injured to run far. We will discuss our options in the morning. For now, go to the hospital and have your wounds seen to.”

“You can’t be serious,” Naruto exclaimed, striding past Ino and planting himself right in front of Hokage-sama. Their matching glares sent sparks flying. “This strange woman claims that Sakura betrayed us? She would never do that! Baachan, you know that! How can you believe this? She isn’t even one of our shinobi!”

“Naruto, she did this on my orders,” Hokage-sama snapped as she rose and picked up Sakura like she weighed nothing. Stress marks lined Tsunade-sama’s eyes and the corners of her mouth. “This woman did what she had to for the protection of Konoha and its citizens, and doing so hurt her more than it hurts you now.” Brushing past the bristling Kyuubi, she gestured for the adults to follow. Ino and Chouji complied, as did Shikamaru once he picked up his sleeping Genin. Kureha stirred as he lifted her, but she settled back into slumber once she realized who held her. Naruto muttered something under his breath but didn’t follow.

Thanks to Hokage-sama’s presence, all three patients were granted beds immediately. The Hokage wanted Shikamaru to be seen as well since he bore marks of a fight also and walked with a noticeable limp in his injured leg, but he insisted that his injuries were light at worst, and a quick glance assured the Hokage that he wasn’t lying. She wasn’t pleased when right after that he demanded that he and Chouji be allowed to stay in the room that the three shared. “How much room do you think we have, Nara?” she snapped as she scrubbed Sakura’s wounds clean. “There’s hardly space for the three of them and the staff as it is. It’s not like they won’t have protection since I’ll be here working on Sakura.”

“Kureha is my Genin,” he answered shortly. “I don’t want her to wake up with strangers and the woman who almost killed her.” He didn’t mention Ino, but they all knew that she was another reason. If Ino and Kureha were placed in separate rooms, it would have been a toss-up who he would have stayed with. Tsunade-sama probably took that into consideration when she commandeered the beds for them.

Hokage-sama’s cool gaze showed her displeasure about the situation, but it wasn’t unexpected. “Stay out of the way then,” she ordered and gave her full attention to the unconscious and frostbitten student lying before her.

Since the small beds were so close together, the room had no space for chairs, but because her teammates seemed adamant about staying in the room anyway, Ino gestured for Chouji to sit on the side of her bed. The springs groaned as he settled his weight beside her, and Shikamaru opted to stand while some nurses converged on Kureha and proceeded to clean her wounds. It was a testament to how exhausted the little Genin was that she remained fast asleep as they moved her body this way and that. Once they finished with Kureha and she was in clean clothes on clean sheets, they moved onto Ino. With a body devoid of the last traces of the soldier pills, all the espionage artist could do was lay limp in their skilled hands as they dressed her wounds and changed her into clean pajamas. Shikamaru and Chouji were already waiting outside the room from when the nurses chased them out to protect Kureha’s modesty. Someone on the outside must have convinced them to take a quick rinse because the dirt and sweat marks were absent when they returned. Chouji’s thick hair still dripped, and Shikamaru’s bound hair wasn’t matted with mud and leaves, plus the two of them were in pajamas that matched her own and Kureha’s. The nurses overseeing Ino finished with her, and when they left, her teammates took their places by her and Kureha again. Despite her best attempts at staying awake, Ino couldn’t keep her eyes open, and she fell asleep with a teammate holding each of her hands.

When Ino awoke, the first thing she heard was Kureha speaking to Shikamaru. It sounded like her sensei wanted her to clarify her and her teammates’ actions with Ino. Kureha knew what she did wasn’t right, and her voice was subdued as she related how they switched off following Ino everywhere when they had the chance. Under normal circumstances, the Genin would be punished. They had to learn that they couldn’t hide important information like that, and punishment would drive that point across. However, Ino felt that Kureha’s close brush with death was enough of a reminder that the girl wouldn’t do anything like this ever again, and once her teammates found out what happened, the lesson would hit home for them too. No one wanted to lose a teammate, and Ino knew that the surviving two would have felt responsible if anything had happened to Kureha. They’d feel it just from what happened to her already.

Shikamaru sighed as Kureha trailed off into silence. “You all know better than this,” he admonished his student. “How could you think about letting a potentially dangerous person like that wander around without supervision from at least a Jounin? Usually ANBU tail spies, not Genin. ANBU know how to handle dangerous people if things get out of hand.” It sounded like his hand connected with his forehead and slid down his face. “I’ll think of a suitable punishment for this later. We have other things to worry about right now.”

“I’m sorry, Shikamaru-sensei,” whispered Kureha, sounding close to tears again.

Ino couldn’t take anymore. “Oh, leave her alone, Shikamaru,” she said with her eyes still closed. “It’s not like they won’t learn their lesson from this as it is.”

The Genin jumped when Ino spoke, but Shikamaru didn’t move. “These aren’t your Genin,” he stated, glaring at her as she opened her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position. Her feeling the previous night was right; he was angry again now that she was safe and he discovered how everyone seemed to know about her before he did. “They need to learn that this sort of behavior is unacceptable. It could have endangered the village if you were a foreign spy, particularly if you were employed by Earth Country. As it is, Kureha almost died because of this foolish behavior.”

“So don’t you think she’s already learned the lesson?” Ino countered. “The point of the punishment is to teach them that this should never be repeated. Don’t you think that point was made with all that happened?” She looked at the Genin, who nodded her head vigorously. “And I’m sure her teammates will get it once they find out what happened to Kureha.” She felt that was a good reason to let them off the hook this one time, but Shikamaru still had that stubborn set in his jaw, leaving Ino with no choice.

She cheated. Swinging her feet out of bed, she attempted to stand, but with the overuse of soldier pills and her body’s demands that she cease all movement, she started to fall to the floor. Shikamaru, being the reluctant gentleman that he was, jumped to his feet and caught her before she hit the ground, putting himself in the perfect position to be on the receiving end of The Look. It wasn’t something Ino used often, and as such, he had no immunity built up to it. “Come on, Shikamaru,” she pleaded on his students’ behalf, pushing the power of The Look up a notch when she saw his attempted resistance. “Go easy on them.” Was this something she did out of the kindness of her heart? No, but since they hid it from him at her request, she felt that she owed them at least this much. She’d sleep better if she knew that she made an attempt at lessening their sentence.

The shadow shinobi knew that he lost. Before, his eyes burned with suppressed anger; now, they held resignation and a silent plea for Ino to not do this to him. He knew she was playing him like a drum, and he also knew that he had no way of denying her. Shikamaru gave the semblance of resisting her wide eyes, but then he slumped in defeat. “You win,” he sighed. Helping her sit on the edge of the bed so she faced Kureha, he moved to cross back to Kureha’s side, but Ino tugged his arm down. He now wore a pained expression, but he did as he was bid. The Look was a powerful tool with long-last effects, another reason why she didn’t use it often. But she wasn’t going to punish him the way he thought she would. Shikamaru was a professional, and the professional thing to do in this instance would be to keep a distance between them, sitting side by side but not touching. For Shikamaru, she now knew, it was a special kind of agony, having her so close, knowing she was within a few inches of him, and yet being as untouchable as though she were thousands of miles away.

Therefore, she took the unprofessional approach. Leaning into his side, she rested her head against his shoulder as his arm automatically circled around her back to stabilize her position. Smiling, she snuggled into his side and sighed in contentment. From the tension in his body, he did not know what sort of game she was playing now, but he wasn’t pushing her away. Slipping her own arm around his back, she gave him a one-armed hug. “You don’t have to be so stiff,” she told him, fully aware that Kureha was watching them with wide eyes and an open mouth from a few feet away. “If you don’t relax your muscles some time, they’ll break on you, and guess who will have to watch over you for even longer.”

With unsteady breathing, he complied, but she doubted anyone was close enough to notice his uneasiness except for her. She felt him rest his head atop her own with some hesitance and smirked at inducing such daring actions from him. After all, he was supposed to be a good example for his students, as close to the perfect role model as he could be, and yet here he was getting very friendly, by his standards, with someone his student thought until recently was a foreign spy. A glance at the bed across from her showed Kureha looking like the foundation of her world just dropped out beneath her feet. “Shikamaru-sensei?” the girl asked uncertainly.

Ino brought a finger to her lips. The man beside her put others’ needs and expectations before his own, and she felt it was about time that he did something selfish for a change, such as this so-called unprofessional behavior. If Kureha brought his attention back to his surroundings, he would once again don the mantle of the teacher and act in the manner appropriate for one, putting distance between him and the long-time object of his desire and throwing himself into his own personal hell. And maybe she was being selfish too. That one night where he held her on the couch lit a longing inside her for a repeat of the experience. It had been so long since someone held her like that, and she had to admit that falling asleep next to him was something she wouldn’t mind doing more often. After he found out who she really was, though, she didn’t think it would ever happen again. She wasn’t sure that it would once they left the hospital and returned to the equivalent of their normal lives, so she wanted to take advantage of this moment while she could. Even if they did have an audience, who looked like she would be using this as blackmail against her sensei sometime in the future once she got over her shock. Shikamaru was a big boy; he’d be able to handle a few Genin giving him grief about his actions.

Unfortunately, they weren’t allowed to remain that way. Shizune entered the room a few seconds later followed by Chouji. Shizune’s appearance was disordered, like she’d been up all night. A strong possibility existed that that scenario was right on the money because more injured people arrived every day from the front lines. The medic-nin didn’t even look at Ino and Shikamaru and made straight for the still-sleeping Sakura while Chouji approached his teammates. “Hokage-sama wishes to see you, Hikari,” he stated while his eyes danced as he took in the position he found them in. Here was another one who would derive great enjoyment teasing them about this at a later date. “Are you well enough to go?”

Shikamaru grunted in annoyance and removed his head from Ino’s. The look he directed at his best friend held just as much annoyance, but he wasn’t the one Chouji came for. Ino nodded her affirmation and tried to rise. As she did, she found that Shikamaru stood with her, keeping his arm around her so he held most of her weight. “She can’t walk on her own yet,” he told Chouji, handing her off to him with obvious reluctance. It was clear he wanted to accompany her, but he wasn’t going to abandon his Genin. His sense of responsibility was too strong for that.

Chouji picked Ino up bridal-style and winked at his best friend. “I won’t let anything happen to her,” he promised and strode toward Tsunade-sama’s hospital office. Through the open door of the room she just vacated, Ino saw Kureha looking back and forth between Chouji’s receding back and Shikamaru, who also watched them leave with an unreadable expression. When this was all over and things had time to calm down, Ino was positive that Shikamaru’s Genin were going to give him a hard time about her. The lazy man who rarely showed more emotion than irritation getting cuddly with someone, and right in front of his student? There was no chance that they would pass up the chance to tease him about it. It was the nature of students to tease their sensei about that kind of thing. After all, they did it with Asuma-sensei when he was hiding his relationship with Kurenai-sensei. Ino hoped Shikamaru would take the teasing with good humor. It wasn’t like they had a relationship like Asuma-sensei did with Kurenai-sensei, and too much had happened recently for her to have an accurate assessment of what their relationship was anymore.

When they arrived at Hokage-sama’s office, it was devoid of personnel except for the Hokage herself. After Chouji settled Ino in the chair facing Tsunade-sama, he let himself out of the office and closed the door behind him. Before Tsunade-sama could open her mouth, Ino asked, “Will Sakura be all right?”

Tsunade-sama blinked and nodded. “Shizune should be undoing the sleep jutsu as we speak. But that’s not why I called you here.” She gave the younger woman a half-smile. “You did what I instructed you to do, and even though it didn’t end as well as I would have hoped, you found the informant and brought her in. Congratulations on becoming a Jounin, Ino.”

Of course the Hokage would know who she was without her needing to say anything. If she hadn’t figured it out after last night, then she didn’t deserve to call herself Hokage. “Thank you, Hokage-sama,” Ino answered, “but my mission is not yet done. The doctor was the mastermind behind getting the information out and he escaped. It is still part of my mission to bring him in, not just his puppet.” _I thought Yuuko-san said I would have the strength to protect everyone when I got back,_ she thought. _So why am I still so weak? I can’t protect anyone like this._

“I appreciate your dedication, but we have no way of knowing where he is.” The Hokage leaned back against the backrest of her seat. “I spoke with two of your companions earlier today. I believe their names were Kurogane-san and Syaoran-san. Apparently they’ve crossed swords with this man before, and they informed me that he is able to bend the space around him to travel large distances within seconds. Even weakened as he is, all he had to do was travel like that once, and we’d have no idea where he ended up. But it seems like he wants something in Konoha and hasn’t been able to get it, so I have no doubt that he’ll be back, one way or another.”

“But if he can travel like that, what’s to stop him from taking it?” asked Ino. An ability like that concerned her. How could you guard your borders when the enemy could appear behind your defenses?

“The only thing we could think of is he doesn’t know where it is yet.” Tsunade-sama sighed and rubbed her temples. “I’m afraid this whole war is just a diversion, just a way for him to destroy Konoha so he can search at his leisure. So the faster we get things wrapped up with Earth Country, the faster we can focus on catching him.”

“I’ll be ready to head to the front lines within a few days,” Ino stated. With Sakura discovered and Dr. Kyle out of reach, it was time for Ino to return to being a full-time kunoichi and defend her village. A week was what she needed to make a full recovery, but it sounded like there wasn’t time for that.

Or so she thought. “Your mission isn’t quite over, as you stated,” Tsunade-sama corrected her. “You will remain as you were before. I also spoke with Shikamaru earlier, and he told me that you are in a unique position to fix this problem between Toya-dono and Lochia-dono. I need their help with winning this war, and they can’t get anywhere as they are right now. I don’t care how you do it, but whatever’s going on, fix it!” Tsunade-sama’s fist slammed into her desk, scattering papers everywhere and startling Ino.

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” answered Ino as her heart sank. That’s right, the Mika problem. She had put it out of her mind with the other events that happened, but now it was labeled as top priority. She still didn’t know how to approach the problem, but Hokage-sama gave the order, so now it was up to her to make it happen. Such was the life of a shinobi in the employ of Konoha.

With the meeting over, Tsunade-sama strode to the door and called Chouji back in. “You may take Hikari-san back to the ward,” she told him. “She’ll need to rest here a few days before she’s released. She took quite a beating from the enemy while protecting Lochia-dono.”

So that was how they were playing it off. Well, she didn’t mind. If she had to stay in character for a while longer, it wasn’t like they could tell the truth. Kureha, even though she was a Genin, would understand the need to hide the facts, and Lochia-dono most likely didn’t remember much of that night with much accuracy anyway. It wouldn’t be difficult to convince her that she remembered some events incorrectly if necessary. The human mind was susceptible to outside influences, and people could be convinced that a different event took place than what they originally remembered all through the power of suggestion.

Chouji carried her back to the room where Kureha and Shikamaru waited. It frustrated her that she couldn’t walk the short distance from the hospital office to the ward where she was assigned, but her body refused to cooperate anymore. Her teammate sensed her agitation and knew why. “You know what should have happened with consuming all those soldier pills,” he told her. “Be grateful that all you have to do is rest for a little and you’ll be good as new.”

Her cheeks reddened at his admonishment. Of all the people she knew, he knew best what happened when a person overdosed on soldier pills. Those pills were one of the things that made the Akimichi clan so formidable in battle, so they were intimately familiar with the side effects of using them. Chouji had put himself in the hospital several times for using too many on a mission, and she remembered the long hours where she and Shikamaru waited outside the emergency room for news. She doubted she would forget the feeling of her heart in her mouth every time the door opened and medic-nin changed places because the procedure took so long. Even afterward, Chouji had to be relieved of anything but light work for the next month so he could get his body back in shape. With all the times she abused her body with soldier pills since she returned to Konoha, it was a miracle that not once had she gone to the hospital for treatment and still survived.

The room was empty when they arrived, and the nurse who was stripping the beds told Chouji to take her to a different room number, Shizune-sama’s orders. Since there wasn’t anything else they could do, Chouji and Ino shrugged their shoulders and meandered out the door again to find the new room. “Do you think that’s where they took Sakura and Kureha?” wondered Chouji as they waited for the elevator to come to their floor.

“I’m not sure,” Ino answered. “I don’t know why they moved us in the first place. It’s not like we’ll be staying for a long time, so it doesn’t make sense to mess up two different rooms.” The elevator dinged, and quiet descended as they entered.

When they arrived at the room, Ino still wasn’t sure why Shizune moved them, but she was glad she did. Instead of a long room with rows of beds and little space or privacy, the new room had two beds inside and looked more like a hotel room than a hospital room. A small counter with a mirror and stool sat against the right wall, and light curtains covered the windows in the adjacent wall. The bedspreads had cheery flower print that brightened the otherwise-white room. Someone must have been inside earlier because a vase of flowers sat on the nightstand between the two beds. Their heads bobbed in the small breeze created by the slowly spinning fan above them.

Chouji looked around and whistled. “Looks like they want you to stay in style,” he commented. “And it looks like you get the pick of the beds.”

“They must want either Sakura or Kureha to stay with me,” said Ino as she pointed at the bed furthest from the door. The beds looked identical, but if she had to share a room, she didn’t want to be the first one visitors saw. She didn’t count on many visitors, considering she was only staying for another couple days, but who knew how long her roommate would be staying? If it was Sakura, she felt it was a safe bet that Naruto would be poking his spiky head through their door at least once a day, and she definitely didn’t want hers to be the first face he saw when he did. The look he gave her the last time she saw him was not one that boded well for her. Making herself as comfortable as she could, Ino looked up at Chouji. “I appreciate you being here for me,” she told him. He did a lot for her and Shikamaru, and she knew that she didn’t tell him enough how much it meant to her. He knew anyway, but some things needed to be said aloud.

“I wish I could do more,” he responded. “If I didn’t have to meet with my Genin, I’d stay here with you, but since I’m their sensei…” He trailed off.

She understood. Training the next generation was more important than staying by her bedside so she wouldn’t be lonely. “I’ll see you once I’m allowed out of the hospital,” the kunoichi assured him. “I may need your help still since my job isn’t done, and I’m not sure what to do next.”

Chouji offered her a small smile and a good-bye pat on the shoulder, and then Ino was by herself with nothing to do but stare out the window or watch television, which already had news about the war going on at Konoha’s northwestern side. The cameraman and anchor must have been brave souls because the footage aired on the television showed close images of the fighting. Smoke bombs hid most of the carnage, but in the background, muted screams echoed in Ino’s ears. Behind the talking anchor, she caught a glimpse of a white pelt and a fierce-looking Kiba with kunai in both hands leaping through the smoke to engage the enemy. _Please keep everyone safe,_ she prayed, her eyes glued to the screen for a second look, but the Inuzuka and Akamaru didn’t appear again.

Because she was so engrossed in the footage at the battlefield, Ino didn’t realize anyone else entered the room until Naruto stuck his face between hers and the television on the wall. With his usual disregard of other people’s personal space, he got right in her face and studied her with squinted eyes. He was close enough that she could see how his whiskers blended into his smooth skin. Ino resisted the urge to snap at him. She did not like it when people entered her bubble without permission. “You’re one of ours, huh?” he muttered. “I don’t remember seeing you before.” He shook his head and backed off a bit. “And I thought you were a good person,” he said to himself. “I thought there was no way a person who performed so beautifully could do something like this.” Naruto didn’t look angry now, just confused. “Why did you attack Sakura? I know she wouldn’t betray Konoha.”

Ino opened her mouth to respond, but the door opened again, and Shizune wheeled Sakura inside. Abandoning Ino, Naruto bounded over to his now-awake teammate and watched anxiously as Shizune helped Sakura sit on the other bed. Once Sakura was situated, Shizune started giving orders to Naruto that Sakura needed rest, so don’t bother her, etc. On the bed, Sakura ignored the two by her side and gazed at Ino like she was trying to figure something out. Most likely she was trying to match the Ino she saw in her mind with the woman in the bed and was starting to second-guess herself. Ino was tempted to let Sakura convince herself that she just imagined seeing her last night, but Naruto already knew that she was a Konoha kunoichi, and the blabbermouth was sure to say something to that effect to Sakura soon. It would be better to just get it over with and try to get them to not say anything. If people in the troupe found out, then she’d be unable to finish her mission. She was pretty darn sure that Mika wouldn’t listen to her once she found out that Ino wasn’t who she said she was. She’d probably want nothing to do with her.

When Shizune finished and exited with the wheelchair, Naruto bombarded Sakura with questions about her health, which was what Shizune just told him not to do, but Sakura didn’t appear to mind. With a small smile and a patience she rarely displayed with this particular teammate, the pink-haired woman answered his questions and reassured him that she would make a full recovery. “I wasn’t hurt badly,” she said, pulling back her short sleeve to show her full arm to him. Only a couple bandages decorated it, though her neck and face had quite a few. “Shishou healed the worst of the injuries, so I’ll be going back out with you and Sai soon.” She looked pretty cheerful for someone who was destined for the front lines again. She also looked too cheerful for a person whose Significant Other had hypnotized her and made her unconsciously turn traitor to her home. Ino suspected that no one told Sakura about the previous night or her involvement with getting information out of Konoha.

They both turned to look at Ino, who was watching the television while keeping the two ninja in her peripheral vision. “She’s the one who did this to you, according to her and the Hokage,” Naruto spoke softly though his words carried just fine. He must not have realized how good the acoustics were in hospital rooms. “Baachan said she’s one of our kunoichi, but I don’t recognize her.”

Sakura frowned. Hesitantly, she called out, “…Ino?”

With a sigh, Ino removed the contacts as Naruto tried to tell Sakura that she was confused and placed them on the nightstand. It wasn’t the most sanitary place to put them, but she couldn’t leave without them, so throwing them away wasn’t an option. It would be better to just leave them in, but since she slept in them last night, her eyes burned and demanded a break so they could breathe. Looking back at Sakura and Naruto, she was rewarded by both of them jumping back slightly at her eyes. No one but the Yamanakas had this eye color in Konoha. “Hey, guys,” she greeted them. “I made it home.”

Sakura had some idea of who she was beforehand, but even still, she bit back a cry and tried to cross the distance between their two beds but lacked the strength and ended up falling on Naruto’s lap. The blankets tangling her legs didn’t help either. The Kyuubi, unlike his teammate, was blindsided by this turn of events and sat stiff as a statue, frozen in shock. “Ino?” he repeated Sakura as the woman tried to get her bearings. “But you died. I saw them bury you. We all saw them bury you.”

Ignoring the pain in her legs, Ino stood on unsteady feet and tottered over to Sakura’s bed. Of the two of them, she was in better shape since she landed more hits on Sakura than Sakura landed on her. As she sat down, Sakura threw her arms around Ino, sobbing into her shoulder. Ino returned her embrace and patted her back. She knew what a shock this was for her. Seeing the woman’s tears broke Naruto out of his stupor because he grinned broadly at Ino, her transgressions of the previous night temporarily forgotten. “I can’t believe you’re still alive!” he exclaimed. He looked like he wanted to grab her, too, and she was grateful that he refrained from anything more than grinning and bouncing on the bed. In the state they were in, he could hurt both her and Sakura in his exuberance. “We all thought you died four years ago! Where have you been?”

He was taking it in much better stride than Sakura now that he was over the shock. “I’ve been performing,” she told him as she continued to hold her best friend. “I can’t even tell you how many places I’ve been, but that’s what I did until Hokage-sama told me to return to Konoha.”

“You didn’t have to fake your own death just to travel around and learn to ice skate, though,” interjected Naruto, tilting his head to the side as he contemplated her answer. After a small pause, his eyes narrowed. “You don’t know how upset we were when that happened. I thought your parents were going to follow you into the afterlife.”

“Naruto!” gasped Sakura, having recovered herself as the other two talked. “You don’t say that to people.”

“But it’s true,” he argued. Along with his lack of regard for personal space, he didn’t pull his verbal punches. It was a trait that caused Hokage-sama some embarrassment when foreign emissaries were present, but it also got some people to face what they’d rather not, just like Ino. “The Naras and the Akimichis didn’t look much better, remember?” He was working himself back to his previous state. “How could you do that to Shikamaru and Chouji? Do you know how much losing you devastated them? Chouji wouldn’t eat for days, and Shikamaru tried to work himself into an early grave because they couldn’t handle it!”

“Naruto, that’s enough!” Sakura cried, but the guilt already pushed down on Ino. Of course she knew how it affected them. She’d seen it in their memories. And she didn’t blame Naruto for chastising her about her actions. Of all of their graduating class, the one Naruto was closest to aside from his own team was probably Shikamaru since they worked so much together, and Naruto’s protectiveness of his friends was almost as legendary as his strength. Ino opened her mouth to defend herself but closed it again without uttering a sound. They had nothing to do with her redirected mission, and she wasn’t sure how to address what happened with Dr. Kyle in front of Sakura. If Hokage-sama decided to keep Sakura in the dark to spare her the penalty of what transpired, then Ino was willing to throw her whole support behind that decision. The woman before her was her best friend, and she didn’t want anything to happen to her, particularly the rather permanent penalty attached to the title of traitor.

Unfortunately, Naruto either hadn’t caught on that Sakura didn’t know so he should be quiet, or else he worked himself up so much that he forgot. “And what’s your excuse for attacking Sakura? She’s not so weak that a small hypnosis would make her turn traitor! Dr. Kyle’s not even able to use chakra, so it should have broken the second you decked her the first time. You went way overboard.”

“Naruto!” hissed Ino, but it was too late. All the blood drained from Sakura’s face, and her arms fell to her sides.

Realizing his mistake, Naruto tried to stammer out something to redirect their attention, but it fell on deaf ears. “Ino,” started Sakura. Her voice quivered. “Is this true? Did I betray Konoha?”

Ino didn’t know how to respond. Hokage-sama wanted Sakura ignorant, but she didn’t want to lie to her and then have her find out from someone else that it was true. Not only would she lose Sakura’s trust, she would also lose what credibility she had. At the rate she was going, no one would trust her again. Her talent was in espionage, and who could trust a spy when they betray someone at every turn? Their friends, that’s who, but not if they lied to them.

The choice was taken from her hands when Sakura took her continued silence as an affirmative. She bowed her head and her body seemed to close in on itself. “It’s not your fault,” Ino was quick to assure her, grabbing her shoulders to stop her from curling into a ball of misery. “It was a complex hypnosis, and Tsunade-sama doesn’t hold you responsible. You had no control over yourself, and I can vouch for that.”

Her friend still wouldn’t look at her.


	17. Chapter 17

During the time that Ino stayed at the hospital, a lot of it was spent in silence. Between the shock of finding Ino alive and discovering that the person leaking information to Earth Country was her, Sakura didn’t speak much during their time in that shared hospital room. Just like Ino predicted, Naruto visited every day, but even he couldn’t get a rise out of his teammate. He was still angry at Ino for what she had done physically to Sakura and emotionally to everyone because he didn’t say anything to her the next day, but as Sakura continued to fail to react to him, he switched his focus to Ino when his discouragement overcame his determination, and he traded ideas with her on how to bring his teammate out of her funk. It was all done right in front of Sakura, but nothing they said registered or got a reaction out of her. Nothing Ino tried worked either, but she was glad for the company. Hokage-sama must have wanted Sakura to have a peaceful environment to recover in and prevented most visitors from entering. Naruto came and went regardless of what rules were put in place, but since he was the only visitor since Chouji dropped her off in the room, Ino figured something like that was put in effect. Otherwise Mika and Misao at the very least would have come to see her.

On the day Ino was discharged, Sakura was still confined to the room. Naruto was with her when, to her surprise, Kurogane arrived to whisk her away. She was well enough to walk on her own by now, though she traveled at the pace of a snail. Since she didn’t have any personal belongings to bring with her aside from the clothes she was already wearing, her departure was only as slow as her pace. Naruto called out a good-bye as they exited the room, and Ino saw Sakura’s sad eyes follow them around her IV drip until they turned to walk through the hallway to the elevators. When she stopped eating from depression, Shizune was forced to put her on the IV so she could receive the nutrients her body craved after the frostbite.

They exited the building after Ino signed herself out at the front desk, and she took a huge breath of fresh air. After living with the troupe for four years, this budding greenery thrilled her because it wasn’t a continuous white. Purple and pink petals peeked out from still-unopened buds even though the nip in the air lingered, but the snow that was a constant for the troupe had dissipated during her five-day hospital stay. Brown grass started showing green roots again, signaling new growth. Homeowners still had covers over their bushes and trees in their yards to keep the chill from killing them. In one such tree, Ino noticed a thin squirrel peeping out from the foliage, watching for predators.

If she were with Chouji, she would’ve chatted with him about anything she could think of whether it was important or not, but Kurogane had no love for that sort of inane chatter. Fye did that to him all the time and she saw how irritated he got with the other man for it. _Why did he come get me?_ she wondered as she glanced over and up at him. Yes, she had no doubt that he was concerned for her, especially when no one was allowed to check up on her while she was at the hospital, but she thought that Chouji or Shikamaru would insist on picking her up. But she didn’t want to ask him and risk offending him. The man could be touchy about the smallest things when the mood took him. However, she did have something she needed to say to him. Turning her head fully to look at him, she waited for him to notice and give her his attention. “Thank you for saving Lochia-dono,” she said. “I couldn’t have saved everyone on my own, and the only reason things turned out so well was because you were there.”

Just like she expected, he snorted and turned away. “That’s what teams are for,” he answered. “You were lucky that the kid and I noticed the energy deficit in that area when there was none before.”

Their slow pace allowed Ino to keep her breath, but it also gave them lots of time with nothing to say, and Ino had had enough of silence. After Sakura’s unhealthy quiet, she just wanted noise, and that made her ask the question that, in retrospect, she knew she shouldn’t. “Why were you so angry fighting the enemy that night?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she tried to reach out and take them back, but it was too late. It broke their unspoken rule of not discussing their pasts, but once words are said, then they can’t be unsaid.

Kurogane’s mouth tightened to a thin line and his stern eyes narrowed. It wouldn’t have surprised Ino if the tree ahead of them burst into flame under the intensity of his gaze. She wouldn’t say that his aura had killing intent, but it was just shy of it. The strength of it made some other shinobi passing by give the two of them wary eyes and a wide berth. With that one question, Ino thought she created a rift between and destroyed all conversation for the rest of the walk, but the dark man answered shortly, “Their leader murdered my mother in front of me.”

Of all the answers he could have given, that was not one Ino expected, and she was speechless. She started to say something, she wasn’t sure what, but he brushed off her platitude before it even formed. “I was just a child when it happened,” he stated, his strong aura fading. “I became the strongest person where I am from so I can go after him and take revenge for my family. There’s a strong possibility that same man drew the demons into our territory at the same time, so he may have had a hand in the death of my father as well.”

“You lost your parents at the same time?” Ino could hardly hear the words she whispered. She couldn’t imagine losing both parents at once. _And he was only a child. He must have been devastated._

He didn’t answer, but it was a rhetorical question. He’d just said as much. _I should’ve kept my mouth shut,_ Ino berated herself. The subject made both of them uncomfortable and she didn’t know how to change the subject without being obvious about it. She shouldn’t have brought up his past!

Luck was on her side, though. Her apartment was in sight, and Mika must have seen them coming because the door burst open and the woman was running towards them in her bare feet. Ino thought that she wouldn’t stop in time and she’d knock the two of them over in a head-on collision, but Mika slowed enough that Ino’s fear did not come to pass. Instead, the woman stopped in front of them and carefully put her arms around Ino’s shoulders. “They wouldn’t tell us what happened to you,” she murmured, sounding close to tears. “No one knew what happened except there was an attack on the queen of Water Country and several people were injured.”

While Ino wanted to return Mika’s embrace to comfort the other woman, Mika’s arms constricted her own, and she pulled away quickly so they could start walking again. She beamed at Kurogane and thanked him for accompanying Ino from the hospital. He nodded his acknowledgement but didn’t smile. That didn’t faze Mika and she returned her attention to Ino. She was like an anxious mother hen with one chick, but Ino didn’t bat her away. With no news ever since the attack, of course she was worried. If their roles were reversed, Ino was sure that she’d be acting the same way.

As glad as she was to see Mika, her presence also reminded Ino of the job she had to do. _She looks so happy now,_ Ino thought as she watched the talking woman. Worried, but happy beneath it all. Thinking back, she remembered when Mika started her night job and how she had that suspicious glow afterward. Ino was _living_ with Mika at the time and she still didn’t notice anything amiss, instead blaming any abnormalities on the night job. _Hokage-sama wants me to destroy her happiness._ A cold pit formed in Ino’s stomach and wouldn’t leave.

Kurogane stopped when they arrived at their still-open apartment door. “Be careful who you pick your fights with,” he told Ino, lightly tapping her on the head with his knuckles.

“Yes sir!” Ino threw him a sloppy salute and a grin. No matter how anxious she felt inside, that didn’t mean she had to project it. She would feign happiness if it killed her! He just shook his head and walked back in the direction of the wall. _He must have taken time off work to make sure I got back here safely._

Once they were inside, Mika shut the door and Ino looked around the dark interior. “Weren’t you just in here?” Ino asked. “Why are all the lights off? Where’s Sayo?”

Before the other woman could answer, the lights flicked on of their own accord, revealing a huge crowd of people roaring their welcome to her. The kunoichi couldn’t count the faces she saw present, but she was pretty sure they broke the fire code’s maximum number of people within a certain space. Still, their warm welcome chased away the thoughts that plagued her and she lost herself in greeting the people who swarmed her. All the faces belonged to troupe members. Not a one of them were citizens of Konoha, but that didn’t bother Ino. After recent events, she was glad to fall back into her role of Hikari and gave her Aunt Misao an enthusiastic hug when she found her. The older kunoichi was startled, but she returned the embrace. “I’m glad to see you made it out in one piece,” she said. Her smile added laugh lines around her eyes and mouth.

“Me too,” replied Ino. She would explain the situation to Misao later because even though she didn’t show surprise at Ino returning here, she had to know that she finished her assigned mission. At the completion of a mission such as this one, Misao would help make Hikari slowly disappear so Ino could go back to being an active-duty shinobi without worrying about the troupe finding out they were duped. Then again, if she spoke with Hokage-sama already, then maybe she already knew about the situation. Still, Ino didn’t want to take that chance and would find time to talk to her about it soon.

One face she hadn’t expected to see was Shin’s. Mika told her that he was worried about her back when she stayed at Shikamaru’s apartment, but she had brushed it aside. She was sure Mika was just saying that to make her feel better, but one look at him told her Mika was telling the truth. Something that she loved about Shin was that he wore his heart on his sleeve. Even when he tried to hide his true feelings, he did a horrible job. Right now the look on his face showed how relieved he was to see her in relatively good shape and his past feelings for her. Ino knew he and Kagura were dating, but he had loved her for four years, and those feelings didn’t just disappear overnight. The same statement applied to her as well. Despite her attraction to Shikamaru, her feelings for Shin boiled up from the pit where she buried them, and she knew that he saw it in her just as clearly as she saw it in him. Lucky for her, Kagura chose that moment to call his attention to the plate of cold cuts and crackers she handed him, freeing Ino to wander away without being rude. It was just too dangerous to approach Shin right now.

The mini-party went on until the sun set. People circulated around Ino so they could assure themselves that she was all right and alternately congratulate her on coming out alive and berating her for putting herself in such a dangerous situation. Ino’s attention was split in half, one part giving appropriate responses to her well-wishers and the other part wrestling those freed feelings back into their corner. She did a respectable job, but she was grateful that Kagura accompanied Shin to greet her all the same.

Once the last person exited the apartment, Ino attempted to help Mika with the clean up, but the other woman pushed her onto the couch so she could take over the less strenuous job of keeping an eye on Sayo as she played on the floor with the stuffed rabbit and some rag dolls someone gave them in Ino’s absence. “Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” called Ino over the sound of running water. “You have to get ready for work soon, right?” She doubted Toya cared what state Mika arrived in, but she had to pretend to not know anything until she figured out how to approach the whole issue.

“I took time off,” was Mika’s distracted response. Dishes clinked together and against the sides of the sink. “You just got out of the hospital, so I want you to rest. If I go to work, you’d end up watching Sayo instead of letting Shin or Kagura take her, I know you would.”

Guilty as charged. She missed the child even before, back when she was staying at Shikamaru’s place. But it wasn’t like Sayo was that hard to watch. She was content to play her make-believe games with her bunny rabbit and not bother any supervisors unless they imposed themselves on her games or she got hungry. All the same, Ino was glad Mika was staying in. Now that Ino was the confidante of both of Toya-dono’s wives, she wished that they both would just leave the king alone until she could sort this mess out. Even though she loved Mika and only wished her happiness, she couldn’t push that sort of misery on Lochia-dono and she saw no happy ending in their futures no matter what happened. In addition, she didn’t need to be Shikamaru to foresee the inevitable attack from Lightning Country to avenge their princess’ honor on the already unstable Water Country and the withdrawal of the Lightning Country troops that were already in Fire Country fighting on their side should any of this get out. If that happened, then even Konoha would suffer. As unfortunate as it was, Ino knew her duty, and she would find some way to see it through.

 

~*~

 

Ino’s recovery time was shorter than it should have taken, but with all her other fast recoveries recently, she took it in stride. Within three days of leaving the hospital and being under Mika and Misao’s constant care, she felt like her old self. Misao did most of the tending to Ino because Mika had Sayo to look after, though Ino didn’t require that much tending. Instead, the three of them spent most of the time in the living room talking about what everyone in the troupe was up to while Sayo sat on the floor surrounded by her toys. The attack rattled a lot of the members and more of them approached Sano with increasing pressure to move on, with or without the Hokage’s permission. “We thought this place was safe,” explained Mika as she repaired another hole in her clothes. “The warfront is so far from here that we could put it out of our minds, but with this happening in the middle of a safe city, our first instinct is to flee.”

“So you want to go, too?” Ino inquired, not missing how she still referred to herself in terms of the troupe as a whole.

“Of course.” The look Mika directed at her made her feel like the answer was obvious. “Why would I want to put Sayo in danger?”

_Because your husband’s here,_ Ino thought, but she didn’t say it aloud. Now was not the time to confront her about it, not without some sort of plan and not in front of Misao, who didn’t know that the royal pair had found each other again.

Putting her sewing aside for a moment, Mika glanced out the window and pursed her lips. “I would’ve thought your friend would visit you since you’re home,” she commented. “It’s not a secret that you’re here and I’ve seen him with those little children when I’ve gone out for groceries.”

Ino tilted her head to the side. “Who are you talking about?”

“Shikamaru’s friend. The big one. Isn’t he a friend of yours too?”

Now that Mika mentioned it, it was odd that he hadn’t shown up. She didn’t think he knew where she lived, but Shikamaru did and could have told him. Heck, he should’ve come along and just shown Chouji where her new apartment was so she could see the both of them. Because of the war going on, she assumed that Chouji was recalled to the front lines, but if Mika saw him in Konoha, then why didn’t he check up on her? To answer Mika’s question, she responded, “Yes, he’s my friend, too. His name is Chouji. The children are probably his students.”

Sighing, Mika gave one last look out the window and picked up her sewing again. “I’ll be going back to work tonight,” she informed Ino and Misao. A stray lock of hair escaped her messy bun and she pushed it back into place with an absent-minded gesture. “Our money fund is running low, so I’d better kick myself back into gear.” She offered them a bright smile, no sign of her lie present anywhere.

“Don’t worry about the money,” Ino was quick to assure her. She really didn’t want Mika to do this, but she had no plan! Not even the start of a plan! “You and Misao have done such a good job of babying me that I’m ready to go back to work also. In fact, I was planning on going to the hospital tomorrow so they could put me to work.” It wasn’t a lie. She really was planning on going back so she could get into a more normal routine and not make Mika feel like she was crowding her when she made her move. Things would get very tense very quickly if Ino forced the issue and then sat on top of her all day so she would make a decision. Plus they did need money to pay the rent and keep the three of them fed. Since the job wasn’t done, Hokage-sama only put a small amount of money for living expenses in Ino’s bank account, but it wasn’t enough for three people to live on.

“Are you sure you should be pushing yourself this fast?” interjected Misao. She knew how long it was supposed to take to recover and she also knew that much time hadn’t passed. “It will do no good to anyone if you collapse on the job.”

“I feel great. Plus I don’t like sitting around all day twiddling my thumbs. I’m ready to go back out into the work force!” Maybe some of her enthusiasm was feigned, but some of it was not. She didn’t like doing nothing!

Misao still didn’t look convinced, but Mika grinned at her. “It’s good to see you so energetic about your work,” she said. “You must enjoy taking care of Shikamaru.”

“What?” That was a non sequitur if she ever heard one. Work didn’t equal Shikamaru.

“Isn’t that your job? To take care of Shikamaru?”

“It was,” answered Ino slowly, “but that’s just what the hospital assigned me while he was injured. He’s better now, so I’ll have a new job to work on.” It made her sad that she wouldn’t see him much now, but personal feelings had to come second to the mission. And, she supposed, it was better this way. Their relationship was on one heck of a roller coaster, and she didn’t know where they stood now. To be honest, she was afraid to find out. His lack of presence since her discharge from the hospital didn’t bode well for her.

Because she couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to prevent Mika from going to “work”, Ino worried the whole night and did not get much sleep. As a result, she showed up at the hospital with bags under her eyes and a slight stagger in her step. The head nurse eyes her with suspicion when she presented herself to receive an assignment. “Are you sure you should be here so soon?” the woman demanded, the stress of her job making her sharp.

Ino drew herself up straight and tried to make herself appear competent. “I am recovered enough to work,” she answered, meeting the head nurse’s brown-eyed gaze head-on.

She expected the head nurse to put up more of a fuss, but the situation must have been direr than she thought because the woman just shook her head and muttered to herself about fools who didn’t know their own limits. “Very well, I’m putting you back where you were as home assistant to Nara-san,” she told her, giving her a kit that looked similar to the one she used when Shikamaru’s leg was still healing. “Go there. Now.” With that, the head nursed seemed to dismiss Ino from her mind and turned her attention back to the computer in front of her. It was probably a list of injured ninja returning from the front lines and required critical care, judging from the way her eyebrows creased together as she ran through her mind the supplies they had in stock and how they didn’t have enough to meet the demands of the injured.

“I don’t understand,” said Ino even as she accepted the kit. “Nara-san was fine before I was hospitalized. He shouldn’t need care anymore.”

The head nurse glared at her. Wisps of frizzy brown hair escaped her nurse’s cap, making her look deranged when coupled with that intense gaze. “He strained his leg before it made a full recovery,” she snapped. “He won’t listen to anyone we’ve sent over there, but since you got the job done before, we’re counting on you to pull off another miracle.”

Ino backed away before she made the woman snap mentally. She knew several things were in short supply, medic-nin in particular. The head nurse was becoming overstressed from trying to balance using the resources they had and keeping some in reserve for when a life-or-death situation arose. Resisting the urge to open her mouth and volunteer her services, she walked out the door and strode down the familiar path leading to Shikamaru’s apartment. The small kit swung in her loose grip and she wondered at this turn of events. _I don’t even know how I feel about this._ She’d get to see him again, but would it be like the last time she stayed with him, full of tension and hurt feelings? Or would it be like when she was in the hospital, when he and Chouji stayed with her and Kureha? She hoped it was the latter, but his absence since she left the hospital pointed more toward the former. Her stomach clenched as she worried about what would happen the moment she stepped through his door again.

It worried her so much that she didn’t realize someone ahead spotted her and waited on her to approach. He had to put a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t walk past him. “I didn’t realize you were ready to be up and about yet,” Chouji told her once he startled her out of her thoughts. Arrayed around the big man were his students along with Shikamaru’s. Kureha’s gaze held an emotion that looked like hero-worship. It appeared that in the time since the attack, she had put Ino up on a pedestal in her mind and viewed her on equal footing as her sister. It was the same expression she remembered the girl having on her face when she first met Shikamaru and stated her reason for becoming a shinobi. The brunette turned her attention to Chouji, pushing Kureha and the other Genin out of her mind.

“Chouji! I thought you were on the front lines until yesterday when Mika told me she saw you wandering around.” Ino put her hands on her hips and pouted. “Why didn’t you come see me? Shikamaru could’ve told you where I live if you didn’t know.”

He blinked. “I’ve been taking care of Shikamaru since you’re hurt. He’s been moody ever since you’ve been in the hospital. The nurses they sent over couldn’t handle him, so I’ve been watching him, making him stay off his leg and things like that.” He eyed the kit in her hands. “He’s refused all medication so far, and I can’t give him any because the nurses took it with them when they left. They said it has to be given by a professional.” He rolled his eyes, but Ino knew where they were coming from. You didn’t just hand over medications like these to anyone and expect them to do it right. That was just asking for trouble.

“What happened to him? His leg was fine the last time I saw him.” It had only been a week and a half, for crying out loud! How much trouble could the lazy bum get into in such a short amount of time?

 “Not after he strained himself to get to you in time before your assailant killed you.” The big man frowned. “He’s been limping since then. It doesn’t affect the war planning, but when he does anything else, it’s obvious. He can barely walk without using that crutch he has. Most nights he can’t sleep because of the pain. He doesn’t say anything, but I know him well enough to know when he’s hurting.”

Just like last time, it sounded like the Nara heir wasn’t allowing his leg enough time to heal itself and was prolonging his own suffering. Ino sighed. “Then I guess it’s a good thing that they put me back on home assistant duty. The head nurse told me about his lack of cooperation, so she’s sending me back to deal with him.”

Chouji looked like he had mixed emotions about that. “Are you sure you’re okay for working?” he asked. Like Misao, he knew how long she should’ve taken to recover. By his side, the Genin turned their heads as one to look back at Ino. They acted like they were watching a ping pong match.

“You act like taking care of him requires a huge amount of energy. This is _Shikamaru_ we’re talking about! The worst he’s ever done is fuss at me about going to bed.” She started walking again, and Chouji and the Genin kept pace with her.

Hesitating, Chouji responded, “The situation’s gotten worse on the war front. Earth Country’s gaining ground and it’s all we can do to stop them from overrunning the shinobi and soldiers that are out there.” He had not only Ino’s attention but the Genin’s as well. They must not be privy to this sort of information and were taking advantage of it for all they were worth. “We don’t have manpower to send reinforcements. I’d be out there right now, but Shikamaru wants us here as part of the skeleton core to defend Konoha as a last resort.” His mouth was set in a grim line. “No matter what I say, he stays up and works on those plans for Hokage-sama.”

“You know how he is.” If anyone died because he hadn’t planned for a certain scenario, then he’d feel as guilty as if he’d been the one to kill them personally. “But it’s not good that they’re pushing us back. What’s the problem?” She remembered seeing Kiba and Akamaru on the news report and prayed that they were safe.

The Akimichi shook his head. “It’s like they know what we’re going to do before we do it. We’ve tried several ambushes and they evaded them every time. It’s driving Shikamaru up the wall because it’s like they’re reading his mind, and it’s all we can do to slow them down right now. He needs to send us back out there. I can help, and so can our Genin.” The kind man’s eyes hardened. The chances of the Genin surviving if sent to the front lines weren’t good, but that was the job of the shinobi, to give their lives to protect Konoha and Fire Country.

“If he thinks you’ll do more good here, then it’s better to keep you here,” Ino told him. When it came to battle strategy, she wouldn’t question Shikamaru. He wouldn’t hold Chouji and his students back just to keep them safe if their presence could help turn the tide of the war. “And this way, you can keep an eye on him like you’ve done so far.” Chouji was the best friend anyone could ask for, and Ino was glad that he attached himself to Shikamaru like he had. No one could mother him like Chouji could. Nara Yoshino came close, but Shikamaru always complained about her nagging and tried to escape her attention as much as possible. With Chouji, he could relax enough to allow his body to recover.

They stopped a block away from Shikamaru’s apartment complex. Chouji sighed and shifted his feet before handing Ino what she recognized as Shikamaru’s spare key. “Keep him off his feet,” advised Chouji as he motioned the students to follow him in the direction of the training fields. Kureha hung back as long as she could, giving Ino one last look of hero-worship before jogging after her temporary team and sensei.

Without Chouji’s comforting presence, the short walk to Shikamaru’s door allowed Ino’s nerves to make her blood pressure skyrocket and the tension in her body shot up with it. When she reached forward to unlock the front door, her hands shook so badly that she had to stop and take a few steadying breaths while leaning on the door before trying again. This time the key slid into place with only a small hitch. Turning the knob, Ino took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Contrary to what she thought she would find, the apartment was filled with sunlight spilling in from the open windows. Chouji must have opened all the blinds before he left because Shikamaru wouldn’t do something like that. So instead of the dark cave that Ino expected, the bright sunlight greeted her and made the place feel homier. Steady writing sounds came from the kitchen; the man was already at work on the plans for Hokage-sama. _I wonder if Toya-dono can work with Lochia-dono now,_ Ino thought as she removed her shoes and placed them next to the door. _He looked so worried when she was kidnapped. But Mika’s going to “work” again…_

Slipping through the foyer on silent feet, she crept up behind him. The bright sunlight streaming through the kitchen windows ensured that her shadow stayed behind her so it wouldn’t announce her presence to him. It wasn’t the best idea to surprise a shinobi, and Shikamaru was still recovering, so she shouldn’t put stress on him. However, he hadn’t even let her know that he was in such bad shape. The least he could’ve done was send a message of some sort to her. That sort of neglectful behavior needed to be punished. Ino crouched down, ready to spring on him. She should have known better.

Her muscles tensed, her brain giving the signal to pounce, but nothing moved. No matter how much she strained, she stayed frozen in place. Then he rose from his seat and her leg muscles snapped tight to force her to stand. When he turned to face her, he wore a smirk and she a sour expression. There was no need for an explanation. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what just happened. Leaning against the table, he crossed his arms and regarded the woman standing in front of him. Ino didn’t copy his gesture, so he must have released the Kagemane no Jutsu. “It looks like you’re feeling better,” he commented, his eyes going over her body and his mind giving an analysis of the visual input.

“And you’re doing worse,” she retorted. With her chance at surprising him blown, she brushed past him and set the medical kit on the disarrayed table. A couple shogi pieces went flying as she opened the kit, earning her a sigh and a shake of the head. Taking out a pre-filled syringe, alcohol swab, and adhesive bandage with one hand, she used her opposite arm and snaked it underneath Shikamaru’s arms and around his back. “They told me I’m back on babysitting duty,” she told him as he raised an eyebrow at her. He didn’t try to fuss at her or back away from her touch, which she took as a good sign. He wasn’t acting like he was unhappy to see her and he wasn’t giving off the vibe of irritation or anger. The black turtleneck and baggy pants he wore didn’t prevent her from feeling the occasional muscle spasm when his leg sent another pain signal out. He didn’t give any other visual signal that he was in pain aside from a small tightening around his eyes and mouth. She tried to walk forward but came to a stop when he didn’t go with her. “Let’s go,” she prompted, tugging him towards the back room. Once she gave him the painkiller, he’d need to sleep and she wanted him already back there and not fighting the sleep compulsion.

“Ino,” he began, but she cut him off. “It’s still Hikari,” Ino corrected. “I’m not done yet according to Hokage-sama.”

Shikamaru tried again. “Hikari then. What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m taking you back to your bedroom so you can sleep after I give this to you.” She lifted the hand with the syringe into his visual field and watched as he involuntarily shrank away from it. He still had no love for the syringe that would give him relief from his pain. “I was briefed before I got here, so don’t think you can convince me you don’t need it.”

“I really don’t.” He didn’t move with her gentle prodding. Because their heads were so close together, he had his head angled so he could see her out of his peripheral vision. If he faced her head-on, their noses would be mere inches apart. “Maybe no one told you, but we are not winning right now. It’s all I can do to have our people retreat as slowly as possible without being overrun. I don’t know how they’re doing it, but at this rate, the fighting will come to Konoha.”

Chouji told her already, but it worried her to hear it from Shikamaru. The man always had a plan to save the day. Hearing him talk like this made the possibility of the armies fighting in the streets of her hometown more real. However, that made it all the more imperative that she get him back on his feet and in fighting shape. If the armies made it here, then he’d need to be able to defend himself. “So you need to rest now. I know that Hokage-sama has several of your plans already and she can talk about them with Toya-dono and Lochia-dono. Your sleeping for a few hours isn’t going to put you back at all.”

Now he turned his head to lock eyes with her and a silent battle of wills ensued. Unfortunately for Shikamaru, her will was stronger than his and she knew it was a foregone conclusion. He just didn’t realize it until she said, “If you don’t go back there with me, I’ll shoot you up right here. You’ll get violently sick from fighting the anesthesia and then pass out on the floor within a half hour. Do you want that?”

At that point, he gave in. Shikamaru knew that everything she said was true because previously he had tried to fight the anesthesia, and Ino found him unconscious on his bathroom floor where he was worshipping the porcelain god beforehand. He didn’t have to say anything once he woke up for her to know what happened; Shizune explained to her the consequences of fighting off anesthesia. Sighing, he pushed himself away from the table and towards the hall that led to the bedroom. Ino walked forward with him and almost fell to the ground when his full weight came down on her shoulder. “Sorry,” he grunted as he limp-hopped another step.

“Don’t worry about it.” The kunoichi tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it was all she could do not to wheeze as she half-carried him across the room. _I didn’t think he was this heavy._ For a man, Shikamaru had a slight build, but he weighed much more than he looked like he should. She hadn’t thought to get his crutch to help even though it rested against the wall right beside his chair, so she became the acting crutch and endured the extra weight as best she could. Once they were in his room and she was able to sit him on the bed, Ino couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped her lips. The man on the bed gave her a knowing look but no apology. He probably thought she deserved it for forcing him away from his work. At least she got him to this point; now it was time to continue. “Okay, take off your pants.”

He paused in the process of standing. “What was that?”

“Take off your pants,” she repeated, removing the safety cap from the needle and placing it on the nightstand with the adhesive bandage wrapper. “I have to give you a shot and your pants are in the way.”

Shikamaru sat back down and spoke fast. “That was for inducing the nerves to grow back together. This is just a painkiller, so you can give it in a different spot. Here,” he thrust his arm out at her and rolled up his sleeve, “use this instead.”

“It won’t be as effective since the pain originates in your leg,” she argued. “That means it’ll take longer for the pain to go away.” He hadn’t given her this much trouble the first time around!

His response was quick. “I’m okay with that. Let’s just get this over with.” Before she could respond, he turned his head and fixed his gaze on something outside the window.

If he felt that strongly about it, then she would let him win this battle. It wouldn’t make that much of a difference, all things considered. He was going to sleep through most of it anyway. “If that’s what you want.”

While she swiped his arm with the alcohol swab, she heard his breath quicken and felt his pulse race under her fingers. “Shikamaru, tell me about the situation with Earth Country,” she said as she pinched his arm and slid the needle inside.

He hissed as she punctured his skin, but he did as he was bid. As he spoke, his arm relaxed and she pressed the plunger with slow and steady fingers. When she pulled out the needle and applied the adhesive bandage, he stopped talking, but he’d already given her plenty of food for thought. “I didn’t realize they were that close,” she said as she drew back the blankets and helped him get settled. That ever-faithful blanket was once again on the bed, the once-dark green now faded to the color of spring grass. It really needed to be replaced.

Removing his ponytail holder with one swift pull, Shikamaru tossed it onto his nightstand and lay back against the pillows. “I don’t know how to prevent them from coming here,” he whispered. “No matter what I do, they get around it.” His eyes met hers, and she saw the weight of the world he carried reflected in those black depths. “If we don’t find a way to end this soon, then we need to evacuate Konoha of all the civilians.”

She wanted to reassure him that evacuating anyone wouldn’t be necessary, that he would find the perfect plan to bring down the Earth Country army, but the words stuck in her throat. Instead she opted to pull up the blankets to cover his upper body and was pleased to note his eyes were already closed. The anesthesia didn’t work that fast, but at least he wasn’t fighting it. She brushed back his hair with an affectionate hand, earning her a small twitch, but that was the most reaction she got from him. “Sleep well, Shikamaru,” she told him as she left. She thought she heard, “Troublesome woman,” come from the bed, but it was too soft to say for sure. It probably wasn’t worth the effort to speak just so she would know how troublesome she was. If she didn’t know by now how troublesome he thought she was, then she wouldn’t ever get it.


	18. Chapter 18

The next few hours saw Ino immersing herself back in her home assistant role. Chouji stockpiled the refrigerator and pantry, so Shikamaru had food in abundance. However, he hadn’t touched the other domestic chores, as Ino discovered when she put her hand on one of the bookshelves and came away with a thin layer of dust. Wrinkling her nose, she attacked the shelves and flat surfaces with a feather duster as her mind focused on the Mika problem. By the time she finished, the rooms sparkled, but she was no closer to a solution to her new mission. She sorted through Shikamaru’s completed plans and Hokage-sama’s responses and folded them into the small pouch on the pigeon’s leg when it returned from the Hokage Tower with another missive. Judging from their correspondence, they were planning a slow retreat while taking out as many of the opposing force as possible instead of planning an offense of any kind. _We will have to evacuate,_ she thought as her eyes scanned one of Hokage-sama’s newest messages. If all the allied forces could do was retreat, there was no hope of pushing the Earth Country’s army back to its own borders. The situation didn’t look good for Konoha or Water Country.

Knocking at the door forced her to put the missives down. When she opened the door, her face lit up at the sight of Chouji standing there. He looked a little worse for wear, but he still had a cheery grin on his face and potato chips in his hands. “How’d he do?” he asked as Ino moved aside so he could enter. The smell of sweat made her wrinkle her nose, but it wasn’t as bad as though he’d done a full workout.

She opened her mouth to reply, but she stopped as behind Chouji trooped all six Genin, five dirty boys and one exhausted girl. “What’s going on?” she asked instead as she closed the door behind the last one, looking outside to make sure she wasn’t shutting the door in anyone’s face.

“We came to see Shikamaru-sensei,” answered Sou like it was obvious. Their shoes made a messy pile next to the front door on the tile she had cleaned not two hours ago. The sight of the new dirt accumulating on her previously-clean floor caused a tic to form on her temple. The brown-haired boy looked at where Shikamaru usually sat and then around the room when the man didn’t appear. “Where is he?” He ignored the dangerous looks he and his compatriots received from the older kunoichi.

Ino wrestled her irritation down and put a finger to her lips. “He’s resting. I gave him some medicine for the pain and now he’s sleeping it off.”

The grateful smile Chouji shot her way made her smile in return, her irritation receding a little. “Thank you for making him see reason,” he told her as he wandered over to the table and the Genin arrayed themselves on the floor of the living room. Ino ambled over to her teammate’s side and looked down. “How did you do it?” Chouji asked softly.

She gave him an honest answer. “I threatened him.”

The big man chuckled and sat down at the kitchen table, Ino following suit. “Only for you would that work,” he told her. “I didn’t have nearly as much luck with that.”

“That’s the power of a woman,” Kureha’s voice chirped from behind Ino.

Startled, Ino jumped and turned around. The small girl stood right behind her chair, her hands twisting one violet pigtail around and around. The older kunoichi hadn’t noticed her presence because the five boys in the living room were making enough noise to mask her approach. “The power of a woman?” Ino echoed as she tried to calm her racing heart.

The Genin’s head tilted to one side. “Aren’t you Shikamaru-sensei’s woman? He’s never treated anyone else the way he treated you at the hospital.” The girl’s wide, innocent eyes pinned Ino in her seat, preventing her from escaping the topic.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ino muttered as Chouji opened the kitchen window for the arriving pigeon. He wasn’t facing them, but Ino knew he had both ears listening back at their conversation. And just because she couldn’t see his front didn’t mean she didn’t know he had a huge smile on his face at her expense. “Shikamaru and I are just friends right now. In fact, we have more of a patient and babysitter relationship than anything else.”

“Is that what adults call it now?” Ino didn’t recognize the voice, so it must have come from one of Chouji’s Genin. The boys must have thought the conversation at the table was more interesting than whatever they were doing in the living room because they flocked to the table and surrounded Ino. She looked to Chouji for help since he was their acting sensei, but he just shrugged at her predicament, his eyes twinkling as he removed the ties holding the pouch to the bird’s leg. “So how long have you and Shikamaru-sensei been ‘patient and babysitter?’” the same boy continued, using his fingers to give visible quotation marks to the “patient and babysitter” part.

“How long have you even known Shikamaru-sensei to get him to act like that?” Sou cut in before she could find an answer to the first question. “Kureha said that he _cuddled_ you.” He didn’t look like he could quite believe it even though his teammate told him it was so. “There’s no way such a prude would act like that with someone he didn’t know for a long time.”

“He couldn’t have known her for that long,” responded Tohru. No one was giving Ino room to say anything. “We were there when they first met. Hikari-san was in a room with members of that performance troupe and Shikamaru-sensei didn’t even acknowledge her.” Trust an Aburame to remember something like that.

“Maybe your sensei hides his romantic life better than you thought,” Chouji’s Genin with the huge glasses remarked, nudging Sou with his shoulder. “Maybe he’s a secret Casanova.”

Even Chouji snorted at that. He and Ino exchanged glances over the heads of the Genin, who were now locked in verbal debate over Shikamaru’s secret romantic life. They were so involved that they forgot about Ino and her role in all this. “There’s no way Shikamaru-sensei has that kind of life,” declared Kureha in defense of her teacher. “He’s so busy with us and work for Hokage-sama that any woman would lose interest because he has no time to see her.” Maybe she wasn’t defending him.

“That’s just what he tells you he’s doing,” responded the third member of Chouji’s Genin team. “You’re not with him when he’s doing work for Hokage-sama. For all you know, he could be out wooing the ladies all night long.”

“He wouldn’t lie to us!” Kureha cried, pushing the other boy in anger.

“He could be. You don’t know for sure.” The boy pushed her back, making her squeak with indignation.

“Hey, don’t push her,” ordered Sou as he moved to stand beside his red-faced teammate. Tohru stood on her other side and slightly in front to protect the only girl on his team.

“She started it.” Chouji’s three boys grouped together as well and glared at the Genin across from them.

Before either Chouji or Ino could move, chaos ensued. The peace was shattered and fists flew back and forth. It wasn’t a true fight; none of the children employed chakra. The fighting stayed physical, but it was only shoving and wrestling with fists thrown in. No fancy taijutsu moves were on display from any of them. Ino was still less than pleased with what happened and tried to separate the combatants and remain quiet at the same time, but she had no success with either one. At the other end of the table, Chouji struggled to do the same and wrestle Hokage-sama’s message out of the carrier pigeon’s leather pouch while keeping the bird still, but the pigeon was upset with the noise and the movement around it. One of Chouji’s boys stood up and brought his elbow back, knocking it into Chouji’s hand that held the pigeon still. That was the last straw for the poor bird, and as soon as Chouji loosened his grip on it so he wouldn’t rip the missive, the pigeon shot out the open window as fast as its small wings could carry it.

The Genin didn’t need to look at Chouji’s face to know that they crossed the line. All six of them stopped and lined up with their heads bowed, afraid to look at Chouji’s thunderous face. “Is this how you act when visiting someone else’s house?” he asked quietly. He didn’t need volume to sound threatening.

“No, Chouji-sensei,” they answered meekly. No one tried to make an excuse.

“Go find that pigeon. Don’t come back until you find it.”

The children were gone in a blink. The man gazed in the direction of the slamming door for a second before flopping down into his seat again. “Of course that would happen now,” he sighed at the table. Turning to look at Ino, he elaborated. “That usually doesn’t happen. Most days they all get along without much of a fuss.”

“Then I’m just that lucky that it happened here,” replied Ino wryly. “I was hoping he’d sleep more, but I guess that’s a vain hope after that racket.” She could hear the bedsprings creaking from movement in Shikamaru’s bedroom. Because he couldn’t walk without his crutch, which was sitting beside Ino’s chair, she knew that any moment he would call for her to either bring him his walking aid or help him back to the kitchen table. Even he had more sense of self-respect than to attempt to crawl back outside on his hands and knees. Anticipating the call, she grabbed the crutch and headed back. “I’ll be right back with him,” she told Chouji as she walked away.

Upon arriving in the bedroom, she saw a scowling Shikamaru sitting up in bed and prepping himself to stand. “What was all that noise?” he grumbled as she handed him the crutch. She explained the situation to him as he pushed himself off the bed and found his balance with the crutch, though judging from his face, he already knew what had happened. The Genin were loud enough that the man probably could have followed the whole conversation right through the fight. “Of course they would choose to fight in here when Hokage-sama sent me news,” he continued to gripe when she finished speaking. “That’s the only pigeon we have. The others have to be sent to the front lines since we don’t have enough. Earth Country’s been shooting them down so we only have a handful left.” He sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. “Now I have to wait for the kids to find one frightened pigeon before Hokage-sama can get the new plans. I can’t even ask her to send someone because I have no way of getting the message to her!”

They had made it to the kitchen table by this time. Chouji, being the thoughtful soul he was, had a sandwich and fortified orange juice waiting at Shikamaru’s usual spot. The shadow ninja gave Chouji a look that said _I don’t want to eat anything._ Chouji returned with a look of his own that stated _I don’t care what you want. You’re going to eat it._ It was moments like this that made Ino envy the close bond Shikamaru and Chouji shared. Those two exchanged looks were all it took for Shikamaru to reluctantly pick up the sandwich and take a bite while Chouji looked on in satisfaction. If Ino tried to do that, she would spend at least fifteen minutes yelling at Shikamaru to take care of himself better and he would ignore her until his eardrums rang. Then they would fight some more until he got too tired of fighting to continue and would give in just to make her quiet. At least, that’s what happened in the past. He didn’t do that when she was Hikari, but Hikari wasn’t going to yell at her patient to eat. She insisted on it, but she didn’t shout at him about it.

The three of them argued over different plans while they waited for the Genin to return, but the shadows outside grew long with no sign of any young person or frightened pigeon. In the middle of another rebuttal to Ino’s continued insistence on more aggressive tactics, Shikamaru broke off with a curse and exclaimed, “Where could they be? How many Genin does it take to find just one bird that couldn’t have flown far by the time they started looking for it?” If he had full use of his legs, Ino knew he would be up and pacing the floor in frustration. Because he did not have that outlet for his excess energy, it came out in his speech and the restless drumming of his left hand against his leg.

Ino had had enough at this point. It wasn’t the first time since he got up that he made some sort of comment about the Genin and the pigeon, and she was tired of it. She could only take so much complaining in one sitting. “Here, give me the completed plans you want Hokage-sama to see,” she ordered. “I’ll go deliver them to her.”

Two sets of dark eyes stared at her. “Wouldn’t it make more sense if I did it?” asked Chouji. “I’m a shinobi so it wouldn’t look odd if I delivered these to Hokage-sama, but you’re supposed to just be a home assistant with no other ties to the shinobi world.”

“No one at the Hokage Tower knows you’re here, and it wouldn’t matter if they did,” Ino stated through gritted teeth. A headache developed over hours of arguing and listening to Shikamaru’s complaints made her less than pleasant. “Everyone knows I’m his home assistant, so it makes sense that I would assist him in this as well since he has no other way of getting his correspondence to Hokage-sama and the Water Country royalty.”

Chouji looked like he wanted to argue with her some more; maybe he’d had enough of listening to Shikamaru, too. However, the genius already stuffed a stack of papers into a bag and held it out for her to take. Maybe he’d had enough of arguing with her and wanted some space, too. “These are the ones that she has to see tonight,” he told her. Taking the bag, she opened the flap and flipped through the first few papers. “No, I’m not suggesting that we use more aggressive tactics,” he continued in a curt voice when she opened her mouth to point out that he included none of her ideas. “We don’t have the manpower for that anymore.”

It was useless to argue with him more on the subject. They’d already gone over it for hours earlier; there was nothing more she could say in favor of her side at this point. Saying a quick good-bye to them, Ino pulled on a coat and boots and stalked out into the chilly evening air. The cool temperature did much to relieve her aching head, and she felt her temperament also improve to the point where she wouldn’t pick a fight with a person who accidently bumped into her. With a sigh, she turned her feet toward the Hokage Tower.

The walk to the tower passed too quickly for Ino, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, she was ushered into a waiting room close to where the royal suite lay. The dark reds of the leather couches and chairs combined with the hardwood floors and the crystal chandelier hanging from above made this sort of room more appropriate in a palace than in the working area of the Hokage Tower. It didn’t matter that it was part of the royal suite; this sort of room was palace material. The floor beneath her muddy boots was waxed enough that her reflection gazed back at her. _This could almost be used as a mirror,_ she thought as she knelt down to examine it despite her desire to maintain the image of an intimidated home assistant unused to the finery around her. It wasn’t like Ino was surrounded by this sort of environment in her usual life, but her job as a kunoichi occasionally had her ending up in areas that were this grand or close to it.

As she scrutinized herself in one of the many gilded mirrors adorning the walls, someone walked in pushing a noisy cart carrying a tea set. The person didn’t acknowledge Ino, instead focusing on moving the tea set as loud as possible to the coffee table in front of one of the couches, so Ino chose not to acknowledge the other person until she finished with the mirror. Then she turned around to glance at the person as she made her way around the room and did a double take. There stood Mika rattling a silver spoon against the sides of a dish containing sugar cubes as she attempted to capture one, presumably to put it into one of the cups she set out on the table. “Mika?” Ino called as she strode over.

The blond woman blinked and looked up, distracted from her job at the sound of her name. “Hikari? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to deliver some papers for Shikamaru,” answered Ino as she looked Mika over. The woman was dressed in the standard black pants and tunic of the maids and butlers of the Hokage Tower. Her normally free hair was braided back into a neat tail, and around her waist was tied a white apron. _It’s the actual uniform of a maid at the Hokage Tower,_ Ino noted as she saw the dark burgundy lining of the collar and the bottom of the tunic. _Maybe she wasn’t lying and she really does work here at night. But how can she work here and meet up with Toya-dono with no one missing her?_ Nothing added up in her head, and she felt the migraine attempt to manifest itself again.

A gasp behind them announced the presence of another, and to Ino’s surprise, a second person in a maid uniform forced Mika’s head down as the other woman bowed also at Ino. “I apologize for our girl disturbing you,” the older woman said. The graying streaks running through the woman’s small bun at the back of her head told Ino that this woman had much stress in her life. The woman’s face held a few lines, but she appeared to be around Ino’s parents’ age. Of course, Ino’s parents didn’t look nearly as careworn, or they didn’t before her disappearance.

“It’s fine,” she assured the older woman, her eyes flicking between the two maids before her. “She’s my roommate, and I didn’t expect to see her here.”

Understanding appeared on the woman’s face, and she allowed Mika’s head to come back up. However, she immediately started berating her about how maids in the Hokage Tower were not to call attention to themselves, be unnoticed like shadows in the night, etc. For her part, Mika kept her gaze on the floor and her black flats and answered with an occasional, “Yes, Ayumi-san.” Her countenance looked suitably subdued for a woman getting a dressing-down from her superior, and it also looked like this happened on a regular basis.

When Ayumi-san had said her piece and bustled off while muttering to herself about all the work that needed doing, Mika returned her attention to Ino. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” she said as she once again tried to capture sugar cubes for the cups on the table. “She’s always coming over to correct me while I’m working. This isn’t my usual job,” she hurried to assure Ino as though the other woman would judge her if she didn’t. “I clean the rooms, I don’t handle this sort of finery.” The china did look more expensive than anything they’d have in the troupe, and her shaking hands gave credence to her lack of comfort around them, especially when her hands were so steady at home with their plastic cups and plates. The fluffy feather duster sticking out of one of her apron pockets also backed up her story.

“You never told me you worked here in the Hokage Tower,” stated Ino as she watched the spoon in Mika’s hands rattle against the edge of the sugar container. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if the container cracked from the inadvertent beating Mika bestowed upon it in her effort to be careful. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Mika turned her face away from Ino. “It doesn’t seem as useful as your job. I was ashamed because this was the only job I could get on a night shift. With no one to watch Sayo during the day, this is the only time I can work, but the people here were the only ones who could use someone with as little experience as I do.”

Was this true also, or was she lying through her teeth again? Ino couldn’t tell, but her inflection did indicate that she was not proud of her new station in life, and her body language told Ino that Mika was embarrassed that she caught her. The rattling grew in volume as her distress translated to excess energy in her hands. To save the poor sugar dish and prevent Mika from facing a reprimand, Ino reached over and steadied her hands. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” she told her when her housemate looked at her again. “This is honest work, just like mine.” _Provided this is your main occupation and not the other…work._

Clicking heels resounded against the hardwood floor from across the room, and when Ino looked over her shoulder to see the new arrival, she felt the blood drain from her face. “Lochia-dono!” she exclaimed, standing upright. “I didn’t expect to see you,” she continued as the woman clicked her way over to the two of them. She unconsciously moved between the approaching queen and Mika, who had shrunk in on herself when she heard the woman’s name.

The tiny woman grinned at Ino and took her hands in her own. The kunoichi felt a small stab of shame looking at her ink-stained hands in Lochia-dono’s well-manicured ones. The ink was from her pointing on papers that Shikamaru had drawn out and slapping them with her bare palms. The difference made Ino feel dirty and ugly, something she hadn’t had time to feel in a long time. “When the messenger told Hokage-sama that you were delivering the plans for Nara-san, I wanted to be the one to greet you,” she answered. “I haven’t seen you since you were in the hospital,” her gaze traveled to their joined hands, “because you defended me. Even with no training, you put yourself in danger to save my life.” Her voice dropped. “It’s always humbling to see people put themselves in harm’s way for my sake. My life should not be held in higher regard than theirs, yet they are willing to throw their lives away to save mine.”

“You are one of the rulers of Water Country,” Ino reminded her. She was sure it hurt Mika to hear this, but Lochia-dono needed this, too. “If something happened to you, what would Toya-dono do? Your country is still getting settled from all the upheaval that happened a while ago. Having one of the heads of the country assassinated would undo all the work you’ve done to bring peace to Water Country.”

The blond monarch didn’t look happy, but she knew the necessity of staying alive was not just for her own sake. She was raised to be a figurehead at the very least, and she knew it. Before she could speak, other voices echoed down the hall, getting louder as they approached the room. Two more figures emerged from the same hallway that Lochia-dono came from, one of which Ino knew very well. “Lochia-dono, please don’t go off by yourself like that,” Hokage-sama scolded in exasperation. “Even though the Hokage Tower is well protected, we don’t want to take any chances of something happening to you.” Beside her, Toya-dono’s stern face showed his agreement with Tsunade-sama. Even though Ino only saw the two of them, she knew that their ANBU followers were now hidden around the room and on the alert.

“I know,” Lochia-dono sighed. “But I haven’t been allowed to see her since she saved my life, and when the messenger said who was here, I couldn’t stop myself.” She dropped Ino’s hands to face the approaching leaders.

As they came closer, Ino saw Toya-dono’s eyes look at the woman behind her and recognize who they saw. His expression froze, his gaze flicking back and forth between Mika and Lochia-dono, who stood not a few feet away from her. Ino’s trained eyes noted the small beads of sweat that formed around his forehead and neck. It wasn’t obvious enough that a civilian would pick it up, but Ino saw and she knew Tsunade-sama sensed something was off because she glanced at the man by her side and back to the three people in front of her, her eyes narrowing slightly and her fists on her hips. However, the Hokage chose not to comment on it and focused on Ino. “Ishigawa-san, you have papers for us? What happened to the pigeon?” She didn’t sound pleased.

With a suitably subdued expression, Ino handed over the bag with Shikamaru’s plans. “There was an incident involving the pigeon,” she murmured. “It shouldn’t be hurt, but the Genin hadn’t found it and he couldn’t get these to you, so I offered to bring them over.”

Hokage-sama huffed as she heard Ino’s explanation. “As long as the pigeon is fine. That’s the only one we have right now to spare for this.” The busty woman frowned at the brown bag in her hands. “Since we are now out the only pigeon we have, there’s no reason to return to the conference room. Let’s continue our discussions here.” She gestured for the two monarchs to sit on the couch by the table with the trembling Mika and turned her attention to Ino. “Inform Shikamaru to expect a messenger with anything we come up with. And that I expect my pigeon to be unharmed or else.” Ino knew the Hokage knew it wasn’t his fault, but it appeared that the leader of Konoha was going to hold him responsible anyway.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” She glanced at the two royals sitting down close to Mika. “Good night, Toya-dono, Lochia-dono.” Mika had her back to Ino and looked like all her attention was on not spilling the hot tea she poured into the three teacups she had laid on the table. “I’ll see you later, Mika,” finished Ino as she left the room and was escorted to the entrance of the Hokage Tower. Behind her, she heard Lochia-dono question Mika about how she knew Hikari, curious woman that she was. The door closed on Mika’s stammered explanation and Lochia-dono’s interjections. Ino didn’t need to look to know that Toya-dono was a nervous wreck. For a civilian, he was an admirable actor, but for a shinobi trained to look for weak points, his increased breathing and sweating along with the way his eyes glanced too often between his two wives were dead giveaways.

While Ino was glad to be out of her apartment and doing something useful, it was her first day back on the job and she was _tired_. It wasn’t that she’d done anything physically taxing, but all the little things of the day added up into one huge monster. The headache of arguing most of the workday with Shikamaru and dealing with the rambunctious Genin would have done her in, but on top of that she ran into the three problems in her current mission, and the stress was driving her to distraction! _Breathe, Ino,_ she told herself. A few children playing tag ran past her, their high-pitched squeals making her cringe from the extra pressure it added to her head. Rubbing her temples did little to ease the pain.

By the time she made it to Shikamaru’s apartment, she was ready to call it quits for the day. Forget arguing for a more aggressive front, forget the stupid pigeon and the brats that caused it to fly the coop, forget her thrice-damned mission! She needed sleep! It was past the time when she should make sure that Shikamaru was away from the kitchen table and in his bedroom for the night, but a quick glance at the kitchen as she removed her boots showed two silhouettes still sitting by the windows. Their quiet voices contrasted with how loud they were earlier when the whole team debated about the future moves of the shinobi army. For a second, she was tempted to rejoin them, but she resisted after remembering their earlier debate. She had no guarantee that she wouldn’t start arguing with them again the second she saw them, and she just wasn’t in the mood for it. Besides, she didn’t want to develop a relationship of animosity with Shikamaru. While he treated her better today than he did before she was injured, it wasn’t the same as when she was Hikari. Heck, it wasn’t the same back when she was still Ino, either. It was neutral, right smack between hate and love and indifference. Not a great place to be, but better than she’d hoped when she first arrived at his doorstep that morning. With a sigh, she changed into her pajamas, sped through her nightly rituals, and flopped onto her bed.

For reasons unknown to Ino, she woke up early. Her thoughts prevented her from going back to sleep even though it was still dark outside, so she sighed and got out of bed. Shikamaru was still at his table writing away while Chouji snored on the couch. She’d thought that Chouji would care enough about his health to put him to bed before he went to sleep, but she guessed wrong. That was unkind of her, she knew. Her large teammate cared just as much about Shikamaru’s health as she did. In addition, Chouji had trained not only his Genin but Shikamaru’s also, and she remembered how tired Asuma-sensei was after training the three of them. Even if all the bearded man did was shout instructions at them as two of them sparred, he would be sweating enough to leave dark patches on his clothes at the end of the training session. Ino didn’t know Chouji’s training methods, but with six Genin to watch instead of just three, she was sure that it took a larger toll on him than it did Asuma.

Her quiet feet carried her past her sleeping friend and behind the shadow user. The knots in his back showed his stress more than his neutral expression. She knew he hadn’t gone to sleep; it was five-thirty in the morning, much earlier than either of them got out of bed on a normal day, and he wouldn’t have so many knots in his back and shoulders if he had just gotten up. However, in light of past events, she didn’t call him out on it. Instead, with tentative fingers, she started working on the knots in his shoulders, a silent peace offering for all she’d put him through. He froze, his brush stopping its endless swishing. Ino half-expected him to shrug her off, and it appeared that he started to, but then he fell back against her and rested his head against her with his eyes closed. She worked on his back for a while, and when the last of the knots disappeared under her persistent fingers, she leaned down until she was level with his right ear. Her braided hair fell over her shoulder and brushed against his leg. “You should go to bed,” she whispered so she wouldn’t wake Chouji.

He grimaced but didn’t open his eyes or make any move to get up. Attempting to tug him to get him moving in the right direction didn’t work either. He did roll his chair away from the table, but when she tried again, thinking that he was going to listen, she lost her balance when he still refused to move and ended up in his lap. Luckily it wasn’t his injured leg that she landed on. Shikamaru caught her so she wouldn’t slide to the floor, and she found her face very close to his own. His now-open eyes captured her own gaze so she couldn’t look away. With his walls back up, she could only see neutrality with small hints of once bitten, twice shy syndrome. He looked like he wanted to speak, but he didn’t. “What is it?” she asked, taking the initiative away from him after several false starts.

Still he hesitated. “Before,” he started, his voice only a rumble in her ear, “when you started living here…was that all part of the mission?”

The obvious answer was yes, she did move in here for her mission. She needed to get close to him in order to go through his memories. But the way he asked made her think he was asking something else aside from how it sounded. Frowning, she looked down at his black sweatshirt and thought. _Moving here, the mission, I’m missing something. Living here…that was to take care of him easier and avoid the storms…Oh._ She knew the real question now. Meeting his eyes again, she smiled and let her feelings from her time as Hikari shine through. “No, Shikamaru,” she answered. “That was not part of the mission.” She laughed quietly. “I stayed here because you, you lazy bum,” she poked a finger in his chest, “made me fall for you.” Resting her forehead against his, their noses kissing, she hummed. “Who would’ve thought I’d fall for my own teammate?”

Shikamaru let out a relieved sigh and chuckled with her. “Not me,” he admitted. “Only in my dreams.” One of his hands reached up to stroke her cheek. His touch was feather-light, like he expected her to shy away like she expected him to do earlier. Instead, she covered his hand with her own and nuzzled it. Her teammate had forgiven her after she had betrayed his trust, and she felt ready to burst from relief. The weeks of building stress drained away, leaving her feeling weak and a little giddy. She felt Shikamaru’s head shift, and then a pair of warm lips met her own.

It was a soft kiss, hesitant like he was when dealing with her. He put no pressure on her with his hand so she had free rein to pull away if she didn’t like it, but she had no desire to whatsoever. It was too early to be up, she was tired from poor sleeping, and she didn’t want to think about the consequences of forming attachments anymore. Removing her hand from his, she started caressing his face and hair and pulled him deeper into the kiss. Skills she hadn’t used in over four years came back, and without even trying she had him groaning softly and shifting in the chair. As far as she knew, Temari had been his only serious girlfriend, and she didn’t think they went far in their relationship. Since it was Shikamaru, they may not have progressed much further than holding hands. With a groan of her own, she pulled away. She didn’t want to scare him. Looking into black eyes that were now devoid of wariness and instead laced with not a little lust, she fought her own desire and told him, “It’s still early enough to get a few hours of sleep. I’ll wake you up in time for you to get some work done.”

If this had been someone other than Shikamaru, it wouldn’t have surprised her to get an invitation to join him in bed, hurt leg and all. With the way things had been heating up, Ino would have accepted and let her hormones take her body for a spin. But this was Shikamaru, and he had better self-control than that. Plus things were happening so fast he probably wanted to just step back and absorb what just happened. Well, if the looks he was giving her were something to go by, he wanted to fling away his logical thinking so he could go back to kissing her and maybe progressing further, but he must have known she was right. He sighed as she got up, and he followed suit with the aid of his crutch leaning against the wall, and Ino laced her fingers through his as they walked to the bedrooms. It took longer than normal, but Ino didn’t mind the extra time with him. They stopped before Shikamaru’s closed door. Once again his free hand brushed against her cheek, and he drew her in for one last kiss. With no small amount of reluctance, he withdrew to his room and she to hers.

_Was that really Shikamaru?_ she wondered as she sat down on the edge of her bed. _That is not the Shikamaru I know._ But did she ever know the real Shikamaru? To be honest, she liked this new Shikamaru she was discovering. He may not have the same experience she did when it came to dating and relationships, but he was a quick-study when it came to kissing. It had gotten a little awkward when the kisses became more passionate, like he hadn’t known what to do, but after following her lead for a while, he had gotten the hang of what was going on and almost made her lose control. It reinforced in her mind that he wasn’t just a genius at battle strategy.

When she awoke again, she smiled at the memory of clearing things up with her teammate. _It’s been way too long since I kissed someone,_ she thought. She’d almost forgotten how nice it was because she hadn’t had a boyfriend since before she started the mission. If she read the atmosphere right, she’d be getting a lot more kisses in the future.

While she hadn’t been pleased when he caught her red-handed in his memories, she was glad that he knew who she was and still wanted her around. Ino was also glad that this development happened after the original mission was completed because if that was still going on, then she couldn’t afford to form any attachments. He wasn’t one to do romantic types of actions lightly, and her brushing it off like it was nothing would’ve crushed him. _Can I really afford an attachment now anyway?_ she wondered as she sat up in bed. She was still on a mission that required most of her attention, attention that she wouldn’t be able to give Shikamaru so that their budding relationship wouldn’t wither and die. In addition, Shikamaru wasn’t in a position to give his attention to anything but the survival of the Fire, Water, and Lightning Country forces. The only thing they had going for them was their long history growing up together.

Ino went through her morning ablutions on autopilot, her mind jumping between Shikamaru and Mika. She wanted to think about Shikamaru alone, to revel in her new infatuation, but her mission kept intruding on her thoughts. Lochia-dono may be oblivious to many things, but the woman wasn’t stupid. If she caught on that Mika made her husband nervous, she might start to investigate why, and Ino couldn’t see anything good coming from that. She needed to get things started moving in the right direction today.

Stepping back into her room, she finished getting dressed and stared herself down in the mirror. “You can do this,” she told her reflection, prepping herself to march back to her apartment once she saw to Shikamaru. Her statement lacked the conviction that she wanted. Really, all she wanted to do was sit by Shikamaru and get as close as she could without distracting him from his job. It was tempting to do just that and push off confronting Mika to a different day; oh, how easy that would be. But if she did it once, it would be much easier to justify doing it a second time, then a third time, and so on. Gritting her teeth, she pushed away from the vanity and strode to the bedroom door. _I can do this,_ she thought once more.

To her surprise, Chouji and Shikamaru were both up. The strategist already planted himself at his usual spot at the table, and Chouji was wrapping up some things and putting them in a bag. He looked up when she arrived. “Good morning,” Chouji greeted her as he slung the strap of the bag over his shoulder. “Breakfast is already on the table, and I’ll be back later tonight after training.” He was out the door before she could form a response.

“What was that?” She turned to Shikamaru, who was also watching where Chouji disappeared.

“He has Genin to train,” he responded, switching his gaze over to her. When his eyes met hers, his expression softened, though you could only tell if you knew Shikamaru. He made his slow way to a standing position, and Ino carefully embraced him, snuggling into his chest while he laid his head atop hers and wrapped his arms around her back. She knew she was moving faster than he would’ve liked, which wasn’t fast at all, but they didn’t have the luxury of developing a relationship at the pace he was comfortable with. With war on their doorstep, they had to take what moments they had available to them.

“What are you doing up already?” she asked, her head still tucked under his. “You need to make sure you get enough sleep.”

“I slept enough,” he answered, his hand running up and down her back in slow, circular motions. She doubted he was aware he was doing it. “Do you know what time it is?”

Removing her head from his chest to look at the clock on the wall, she did a double-take when she saw the time. “It’s already eleven?” she exclaimed. “How did I sleep so long?”

“You must’ve been tired.” Releasing her, he sat back down and gestured to the food still on the table. “There’s still plenty here if you’re hungry.”

As she ate, she leaned on his non-dominant arm so he could still write. The absent smell of cigarette smoke from his clothes reminded her of a question that came up when searched his memories. “Hey, Shikamaru, I’ve been watching you for a while now, and not once have I seen you smoke. What happened?”

He glanced sideways at her. “You always wanted me to quit. Are you complaining about it now?” She shook her head, and he gave her a half-smile before turning back to his papers. “When you left, I felt that was one way to honor your memory. I’ve been clean for a few years now.”

Content to stay where she was, Ino remained seated by his side for a few minutes after she finished eating, but she knew she needed to get started. Glancing at the clock, she judged that she had a few hours before she needed to come back and give Shikamaru his painkiller. With a sigh, she stood and cleaned up the remaining dishes. “I’m going back to my apartment to talk to Mika,” she told her teammate as she wiped her hands dry. “I’ll be back in a few hours to give you your shot.”

He grimaced. “Don’t hurry on my account,” he responded as she got ready to leave. “In fact, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t hurry at all.” Despite their new relationship status, his dislike of the shots overrode his desire to see his new girlfriend. Typical Shikamaru.

Sticking her tongue out at him, she slapped his upper arm as she passed him. “Don’t miss me too much,” she called over her shoulder. Her last view of him was the brunette rubbing the spot where she slapped him but smiling fondly in her direction. Ino smiled in return as she pulled on her muddy boots and stepped out into the bright sunlight. _It’s go-time,_ she told herself, steeling her will for what awaited her.


	19. Chapter 19

When she arrived at her front door, Ino had a basic idea of how she wanted the conversation with Mika to go. It wasn’t a complete dialogue, and even as an outline, it was sparse, but that was all she could come up with on the way over. Nothing was stopping her from staying outside until she came up with the perfect plan, but as a veteran of confrontations of all sorts, Ino knew that even the best-laid plans fell apart within the first few minutes. Staying outside to plan some more would just be putting off the inevitable. With a sigh, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Mika, I’m home,” she called so she wouldn’t alarm her roommate.

After closing the door and turning around, Ino froze at the scene before her. Of all the things to walk into, this was one of the worst scenarios. Mika sat on the couch with Sayo on her lap. Her arms wrapped around the frightened child, and Mika was glaring with angry, teary eyes across the room. At the other end of the living room, Lochia-dono appeared to share Mika’s feelings. Both women had similar, red-rimmed eyes and furious expressions. All three of the room’s inhabitants turned to face Ino at her call. Silence reigned as they all looked from one person to the next. Ino could feel the tension spiking. No one knew what to say or how to address Ino’s inadvertent interruption.

Mika was the first one to recover enough to speak. “What are you doing home so early?” she asked. Ino could tell she made an effort to control her voice, but Mika was still upset and had a small tremor when she spoke. She also couldn’t hide the tear marks and her red eyes. “I thought you would stay with Shikamaru today.”

“I had to talk to you about something,” responded Ino quietly, her eyes flicking from Lochia-dono back to Mika. “But it looks like someone beat me to it.”

The performer didn’t grasp her meaning, but the queen understood right away. Out of the corner of her eye, Ino saw her stiffen and stare at her with incredulity. “You knew?” she gasped. “And I thought…” She couldn’t finish the thought as a fresh sob choked her.

After that display, Mika caught onto what Ino was talking about. All the blood drained away from her face, and the strength must’ve left her arms because Sayo was able to free herself and run to Ino, who picked her up without her eyes leaving Mika’s. “How long have you known?” she whispered. The woman’s whole body trembled with the emotions going through her.

“For a while now.” Ino wanted to go to Mika and calm her down, but if she approached her, she knew she would only make it worse. In addition, she didn’t want Lochia-dono to feel like they were ganging up on her by showing solidarity. “I wasn’t sure how to talk to you about it, but I got the nerve to do it today. This isn’t the best time to talk about it, but since you’re both here…” She took a steadying breath. “You remember when your husband remarried. Toya-dono had to declare you dead when Yukito told him you died. Remember when Sayo was born? The bandits attacked the town we were in and killed so many people.”

“But I’m not dead!” cried Mika. In her agitation, she rose to her feet and took a step towards Ino. “I’m alive and he knows! That means we’re still married. This woman,” she pointed an accusing finger at Lochia-dono, “is the legal mistress of my husband, not his wife! And yet she dares to come into my own home and tell me to give up my position!”

It was quite unlikely that Lochia-dono told Mika to do anything. Ask her maybe, but the small woman wouldn’t demand something like that. “Mika, please, calm down,” pleaded Ino. Her roommate wasn’t in a mental position to think logically when she was this wound up. “You love Sayo, don’t you?” At Mika’s curt nod, the kunoichi continued, praying that Mika wouldn’t close herself to what Ino was saying. “Lochia-dono’s family loves her just as much. If they find out that they sent her to Water Country to be a mistress instead of the queen as promised, they will destroy Water Country. I know you know how unstable it is. With most of their soldiers already here and fighting, they won’t be able to stand up to Lightning Country’s fighters. Your husband loves his country and his people like you love Sayo. How will he feel watching his country fall apart?”

Both women were quiet. Ino hadn’t said anything Lochia-dono hadn’t already known, but Mika calmed down a little and was doing some thinking. It wasn’t the kind that would lead her to the ultimate conclusion Ino and most of the rest of the world wanted her to come to, but she had to hope. Mika wasn’t a malicious woman, but they were asking an unreasonable amount of her. Ino, the one who was asking her to give up, knew it was unreasonable. That made it hard to come up with more reasons why Mika should let Toya-dono go. And she would need more reasons; the lone argument she already made wasn’t enough to change anyone’s mind.

A low rumble that Ino felt through the soles of her feet ran through the ground. Because it was so quiet, everyone heard the tinkling of the silverware and dishes as the low rumble escalated to a full-blow earthquake in a matter of seconds. As the shaking got worse, Ino dove for the closest door, flung it open, and held Sayo to her chest as she braced herself in the door’s sturdy framework. Screams erupted from all around them, and Sayo joined her high-pitched screech to theirs as their world rocked them all over. Glassware and porcelain crockery smashed against the ground, littering it with glistening, sharp points promising lameness and lacerations to anyone who had the misfortune to fall upon them.

The shaking only lasted a minute and a half, but it was one of the longest times Ino remembered experiencing. Just like the permanent residents in Konoha, Ino knew that earthquakes didn’t occur in Konoha unless they were jutsu-related, and she felt her heart drop. To get quakes that strong and for that range, it had to be a concerted effort of many shinobi, which meant the Earth Country shinobi were here in Konoha. They were out of time.

_I have to get them out of here,_ Ino thought. Outside, deep cracks and uneven surfaces decorated the once-smooth road. Taking note of the treacherous footing below, the kunoichi turned her gaze upward to the rooftops and saw the same dilemma. Many shingles were shaken off, and several houses had the roofs collapse inward. Even from her apartment, Ino could hear the screams of the trapped inhabitants. She wanted to run and help them; they were fellow citizens of Konoha, possibly fellow shinobi that she’d worked with in the past! However, more immediate problems tore her attention away. Looking inward, she saw that Mika and Lochia-dono copied her idea of standing under a sturdy structure and appeared to be unharmed. Ino was lucky that she hadn’t removed her boots; the glass and broken pottery littered the ground at the women’s feet. Neither of them would be able to walk once the aftershock tremors stopped unless they got something to step on to protect their feet. As it was, Ino could see bleeding cuts already around their legs. She might have cuts on her own legs, but the adrenaline in her blood prevented her from feeling any pain coming from them. A quick check on Sayo showed she was distressed and still vocal about it, but she suffered no harm in the earthquake.

With careful maneuvering to keep Sayo in her arms, Ino used one hand to toss Mika her boots one at a time after she knew Mika was ready to catch, then she repeated the process for Lochia-dono. “We need to get to the Hokage Tower,” she shouted to them; the noise of collapsing buildings made normal speech impossible. “Because Toya-dono is there, the Hokage will keep several special shinobi there to protect him and you, Lochia-dono.” The last part was specifically for the queen. “There should be people there to lead us to a safer area.” While the ANBU would be concentrated where the Hokage and the royal family were, that’s also where the foreign shinobi were targeting, so it was the most dangerous place to be. However, Ino had to get her there because she couldn’t defend Lochia-dono, Mika, and Sayo by herself. At the moment, they were sitting ducks for any Earth Country forces to pick off if they discovered who they were.

As Mika retrieved Sayo’s favorite bunny from the adjoining room to calm her daughter’s tears, Ino kept a sharp eye outside the open door for enemy forces. She wasn’t about the lead the two women right to the Earth Country army. So far, only concerned Konoha inhabitants were in the streets that she could see, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Already the shinobi around her were either rescuing their buried compatriots or running towards the area with high chakra energy that was approaching Ino’s location too fast for comfort. “We’ll have to hurry,” she told them. “Stay low and follow me.”

Burdened with Sayo and two civilians, their progress was slow. Add in the amount of debris and unstable footing outside and their pace slowed to a crawl. It even looked like they were crawling since Ino had them bent over to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Shattered windows left unseen shards of glass on the ground, and all three of them had cut body parts from catching themselves and getting those invisible shards buried in their skin. All the excitement around them had Sayo wound up, but thanks to her bunny, she remained silent and squeezed the stuffing out of the doll. Most of the time, she kept her face hidden in Ino’s shoulder so she wouldn’t have to see the destruction surrounding them.

Ino was thankful that Lochia-dono and Mika were too distressed to question following her. It wasn’t like Hikari would know her way around Konoha better than the other women; she shouldn’t know the way better than either of them because most of her time was spent playing babysitter to one man who was stuck inside his apartment all day long while one woman lived at the Tower and the other worked there every night. But because of the earthquake and their heated discussion before she arrived at the apartment, neither woman thought to challenge her. Instead, they were more focused on not tripping and falling and keeping up with the others.

They weren’t halfway to the Tower when the fighting caught up to them. A flying shuriken caught the kunoichi’s eye, and she had to duck or else catch it in the head. It wasn’t aimed at her, she noted, because it wasn’t aimed to kill. If she hadn’t paused to adjust her grip on Sayo, then it would have missed her completely. The near-miss still scared the other women, and Mika screamed because not only Ino, but Sayo was in danger. _So much for avoiding the fighting,_ Ino thought as she saw people with the Earth Country insignia approach them. “Mika, take her,” she ordered, passing Sayo back and getting her kunai ready. It didn’t matter if they found her out now. She just needed to keep them alive.

The shinobi who threw the wayward shuriken wasn’t one of the approaching pack, and Ino make quick work of the regular military men. They may have been trained to fight, but they didn’t stand a chance against a shinobi with incentive to keep them back. One of them was able to block her kunai with his short sword, and she found herself locked in a power struggle with a man who was taller than her by a foot and heavier by who knew how much. He bore down on her, using his height and weight to his advantage to push her down. He was close enough that she could smell the sweat and dirt on his clothes and skin. His harsh breathing rang in her ears as he pressed her towards the ground. Knowing she couldn’t win like this, she slid to the side, which made him fall forward since he wasn’t expecting the resistance to disappear. As he fell, Ino hamstrung his legs so he couldn’t move, then gave him the mercy of a quick death. _He was so young,_ she thought as she returned to her charges. _No older than eighteen._

Both Mika and Lochia-dono stared at her with frightened eyes when she got closer. Mika didn’t have much interaction with shinobi other than what she witnessed while in Konoha, but Lochia-dono grew up in a nation that had its own hidden village, and she had suspicion in her eyes as well as fear. “Are you really Hikari-san?” she asked.

_I don’t have time for this!_ “Yes, Lochia-dono,” replied Ino, not allowing her frustration to enter her voice. “Hokage-sama will explain everything once this is all over, but we have to get to her first. Let’s continue, but we’ll need to watch out for more soldiers. Stay close together.”

It wasn’t like Lochia-dono could wander off by herself. The woman knew her chances of survival without Ino were slim to none, so she put aside her concerns and stayed with Ino and her husband’s legal wife and child. As she passed one of the fallen soldiers, though, Lochia-dono picked up a discarded sword. Ino didn’t know if it was to defend herself against Earth Country fighters or against Ino, but it didn’t matter. As long as Lochia-dono got to Hokage-sama in one piece, then it didn’t matter to the kunoichi what she did with a sword she wasn’t sure the royal could use.

With all the fighters available to distract them, the Earth Country forces didn’t specifically target Ino’s little group as they wove their way around the fighting. Occasionally a free fighter challenged them, but Ino moved to intercept any that tried and took them down, soldier and shinobi alike. Sprinkled among the regular fighters were those black-clothed shinobi with the bat insignia, and those were what gave Ino the hardest time. They seemed to know when Lochia-dono was close and swarmed to them. There were never more than three at a time, but even three were a match for Ino. The women didn’t get away unscathed when those were their foes, and Ino gained a limp in her step and a slash through her non-dominant arm. Mika and Sayo remained relatively unhurt due to Lochia-dono taking it upon herself to stand between those two and anyone who got past Ino. It must’ve been because Mika held Sayo and couldn’t defend herself, or else Lochia-dono was defending Sayo more than Mika. Ino couldn’t tell what was going through the monarch’s mind, but she didn’t care why. She did care that the queen was putting herself in danger when she should focus on getting away, but Lochia-dono refused to let any threat near the trio.

Ino’s luck ran short as she helped Lochia-dono over one of the wider trenches in the road. Her back was to whoever approached, and she was looking at their feet, which was why she didn’t see the blood drain from Lochia-dono’s face or her mouth open to scream a warning. What felt like a hammer came down on the base of Ino’s skull, and she fell like a stone. _What was that?_ she wondered when the pain receded enough for her to think. The words floated through the haze that wrapped around her mind. As her eyes blearily focused beyond the feet next to her nose, she saw with growing dread a wave of black shinobi gunning right for her position. It wasn’t just three this time. She counted at least fifteen, but her view was obstructed from being on the ground.

The feet by her head went flying, and whoever bested him hoisted Ino up by her arms. Liquid was poured down her open throat, sending those icy chills through her again. She shuddered, holding onto the other person for support and gasping. When her head cleared a few seconds later, she saw that she was in the arms of Fye, who smiled down at her as she regained her breath. “I’m glad we made it in time,” he said. “That fighter was about to run you through. Can you stand on your own?”

Ino nodded. “I think so.”

Fye let her go, and Ino’s legs held firm. “Then I will go do my part,” he said, waving good bye and drawing his rapier. Syaoran and Kurogane were already in the midst of the enemy, keeping them away from where Ino stood. The black-haired man’s eyes flashed with rage as he swung his sword around, making several of the enemy jump back, but one didn’t move fast enough and was cut down. Syaoran fought with his sword and his taijutsu, mixing up the two and making his next move unpredictable. Their last companions, Sakura and the white Mokona, were nowhere to be seen, but Ino didn’t have time to worry about them.

A voice from behind made her whip around and breathe a sigh of relief. Lochia-dono, Mika, and Sayo stood behind her, looking frightened but unharmed. “Are you okay, Hikari?” asked Mika. Her worry was mirrored in Sayo’s face, though she was still too young to know what was happening.

“I’ll make it,” she reassured them. “Fye gave me something to help, and it worked already. Let’s keep moving.”

“But…” Mika looked back at the three fighters amidst the sea of black shinobi.

Ino moved forward and pushed Mika away from the fighting. “We can’t help them like this. They’re strong fighters, you know that. If anyone can survive, they can.”

The liquid Kurogane’s group used worked like a charm. It didn’t heal the wounds Ino had already, but her head remained clear, and she felt like some of her energy returned. Her limp wasn’t as bad as before, but she still couldn’t grip anything with her non-dominant hand well enough to have a firm grip on it. A couple of fighters locked in combat stumbled next to them as Lochia-dono and Mika used a fallen piece of wood as a bridge to get across the road. The fighters appeared intent on each other, but Ino still moved between them and the other women. They looked well matched, but then the Konoha fighter stumbled to his knees. The Earth Country soldier raised his spear to impale Ino’s countryman, but Ino moved first. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a kunai through his skull. The enemy reeled to the side and toppled over. Blinking sweat and hair out of his face, the Konoha fighter met Ino’s eyes, and they nodded acknowledgement of each other once before he was up once again and back in the fray.

Ino’s little group remained unmolested for a little while, but they were in the midst of a battlefield, so it was only a matter of time. Another group of black-clad shinobi spotted them, and Ino once again moved between them and the rest of her group. Her leg was now almost numb from the blow that gave her the limp and from the constant walking, and she had to keep her weight off it to avoid falling to the ground. Blinking sweat from her eyes, she readied herself to charge and was almost knocked over as her opponents rushed her first. Kunai rang on the short sword carried by her attacker, and she hobbled backward as the attacker pressed forward. Ducking down, she swung her numb leg around to knock the other fighter’s legs out from under him and threw two kunai at the shinobi who tried to race past her. They dodged the kunai with ease, but it made them leap away from the three behind Ino, which was her goal. Breathing hard, Ino brought out two more kunai and held them in the ready position. “Come and get me!” she shouted with false bravado. It didn’t matter that she was losing strength; as long as they stayed focused on her, the others could get away.

Accepting her challenge, the three shinobi of the bat insignia swooped down on her. She jumped over the low kick sent at her knees and blocked the short sword as it descended on her head. Ino sent out a kick of her own that sent one of them flying, but another caught her outstretched leg and swung her around, sending her careening into a brick building nearby. The wind was knocked from her lungs, and she lay gasping on the ground as the two remaining shinobi approached. With her head still swimming, she tried to bring her hands together for an Earth-style jutsu to stop their advance for even a few seconds so she could catch her breath, but a thrown kunai broke the seal sequence as she defended herself. She stared into the hoods where their eyes were hidden, and they paused as though to honor her in her last moments. Then the moment was over, and they charged, weapons at the ready.

A loud roar echoed around them before an angry force slammed the shinobi sideways. Like Ino, they were sent into a brick wall, but they didn’t stop. Instead, they continued through the wall and beyond the wall past that one. Neither one rose. The force that ran into them turned to Ino and exclaimed, “There you are! I’ve been looking for you!”

“What do you need that you’d look for me in a battlefield, Uzumaki-san?” wheezed Ino as Naruto hauled her up. It was only at the last second that she remembered to use his last name. “I’m trying to get these people to Hokage-sama for protection.”

He paused to take in Ino’s appearance. “Here,” he said, handing her a couple of his huge soldier pills special-made by Sakura. She gagged as she swallowed them, but even as she chased them down with water also provided by Naruto, she felt her numb leg tingling and the gash in her left arm closing. “We’ll get these people to Tsunade-baachan, but then I need to you to come with me to the hospital.” He helped balance her as she stood on her own. As he turned to help her return to Sayo, Mika, and Lochia-dono, he looked beyond them and froze. Ino watched as his face transformed from worried to enraged within seconds. “You!” he snarled.

“Hello again, Naruto.” Atop a canopy sat Dr. Rondart Kyle, Ino’s escaped target. His glasses glinted in the sunlight, and his happy expression amidst all the chaos and pained screaming made Ino feel sick. Ino wanted to rush him, as she was sure Naruto did, but the queen and Ino’s roommate stood between them. Dr. Kyle seemed content to stay sitting as long as she and Naruto stayed put. “What a stroke of luck it is that I was able to find you in all of Konoha,” the doctor continued even as a flaming kunai flew past his ear close enough to ruffle his hair. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to locate you in all this mess.”

The killing intent rolled off Naruto in waves. It was strong enough that Ino took a few steps away from the man next to her whose face was becoming redder by the minute. “It’s your fault!” he roared. “How dare you show your face! It’s your fault Konoha was attacked! It’s your fault that Sakura is so depressed that she slit her wrists! It’s all thanks to you!”

The blood drained from Ino’s face. _What? Sakura did? No way…she’s too strong to do something as dumb as that…_ But Naruto’s angry face didn’t show any lie, and Dr. Kyle’s lack of concern didn’t make the blond man change expression. “Naruto…is that why you were looking for me?” she whispered. In her distressed state, she forgot to use a stranger’s formality and addressed him in a way that was too familiar for Hikari to use. At this stage of the game, though, it wouldn’t matter.

He didn’t look at her. “I caught her before she lost too much blood,” he answered. “Shizune bandaged her, but she didn’t wake up. I was hoping you’d be able to help, but then this happened.” He growled. “Once this is all over, please come with me to see her.”

Dr. Kyle chuckled at their exchange. “I’m afraid once this is over, there will be no need for you to see Sakura.” Faster than Ino could see, the doctor jumped from the canopy and darted forward. When he retreated, Sayo was in his arms and Mika was on the ground, screaming. The child gripped her bunny with all her might and shrieked in terror. Her scream tore through Ino’s soul and chased away all rational thought. She stumbled a few steps forward, but she froze when the doctor pulled out a surgical knife and held it close to Sayo’s neck. “I wouldn’t make any rash moves if I were you,” the doctor stated. That out-of-place smile was still pasted on his face. “Now as I recall, you don’t like it when others are hurt because of you,” Dr. Kyle addressed Naruto. “If you come without a fuss, I won’t hurt the child.”

Naruto snarled, and in response, the doctor pressed the sharp knife into Sayo’s neck enough that he drew blood. Sayo’s scream took on new overtones, and it almost brought Ino to her knees. “Sayo,” she whimpered, reaching out to the child. Her baby was in trouble, and she couldn’t save her! By the time she reached the doctor, he’d have enough time to cut Sayo’s neck, throw her body into Ino’s arms, and still get away.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto glance at her before hardening his expression and facing Dr. Kyle again. “You’ll let her go?” he asked.

Dr. Kyle nodded and, to show his good faith, removed the knife from Sayo’s neck. “But of course,” he called. “You’re the only one I’m interested in.”

_None of this makes sense,_ thought Ino as Naruto took a step forward. _He was after Lochia-dono originally, and now he’s after Naruto?_ “Wait, Naruto,” she commanded, though it came out more as a tremulous request. When he stopped in surprise, Ino addressed Dr. Kyle, ignoring the painful spikes driving themselves into her heart. “What are you after? First you wanted the queen of Water Country, now you want Naruto. What is your goal?”

“My goal has always been Naruto,” the doctor replied. He looked surprised that she didn’t get such an obvious answer. “Everything I’ve done is to get to him. He has something that I need.”

_The Kyuubi._ Ino knew the same thought occurred to Naruto because he jerked away from him. Now Ino was torn with indecision. To allow Naruto to go to Dr. Kyle was unforgivable as a shinobi of Konoha, but if he didn’t, then Sayo was going to die, and Ino and Mika would go insane from it. Even more so than asking Mika to give up Toya-dono, this was something Ino couldn’t do. She couldn’t choose between Konoha and the child she and Mika raised. Her insides tore her apart as Ino’s two priorities went to war with each other, leaving her feeling sick and unable to reach a conclusion.

For better or worse, Naruto took the decision out of her hands. Striding forward, he passed Lochia-dono and Mika, who still lay sprawled across the uneven ground still littered with sharp objects, and stopped a few feet away from Dr. Kyle. “Here I am,” he growled. “Let the girl go.”

“In just a moment.” The doctor pulled a spiral object out of his side pouch. Within seconds, Dr. Kyle flung Sayo away, though her rabbit got caught on his belt and was torn from her grip, and summoned more of those black shinobi to pin Naruto against the ground. “Now let’s get that feather out of you.” He pressed the spiral into Naruto’s stomach and seemed annoyed when nothing happened. “Come on, get out,” he muttered, pressing it harder into the man’s abdomen, making Naruto grunt at the painful pressure. Still nothing. Frustrated, the glasses-wearing villain whacked Naruto with the spiral. “Why isn’t this working?” he snarled. He was no longer smiling. “Don’t tell me it’s defective.” With a harsh sigh, he continued to beat Naruto with the fragile-looking spiral. It may have looked fragile, but that spiral left deep cuts in Naruto’s body, and blood pooled beneath his struggling body.

Ino didn’t witness any of this exchange. As soon as Sayo went flying, she sprang into action. Darting past Lochia-dono and Mika, she intercepted Sayo midair, and Ino skidded to a halt on the ground. She felt the air move around her, but Ino didn’t feel any of the pain she should have felt from the ground cutting up her body. _Are Sakura’s soldier pills really that effective?_ she wondered. If so, then when this was all over, she was going to start buying exclusively from Sakura and just find a way to get around the bad taste.

But no, it wasn’t the soldier pills. Beneath her, a rough voice asked, “Are you okay, Ino?”

Glancing down, she saw familiar brown hair and a worried face. “Chouji!” she cried, scrambling off the big man. “You shielded me?”

He heaved himself off the ground and brushed off some dirt. “I’m glad we made it in time.” Behind him landed six Genin and one Jounin without his needed crutch. “I don’t know how he does it, but Shikamaru knew where you’d be once the earthquakes stopped.”

Before Ino could say anything in response, Sayo shuddered against her and let out another ear-piercing wail. “It’s okay, Sayo,” Ino comforted her, cuddling her to her chest and rocking her. “I’ve got you.”

“I want Mommy,” blubbered Sayo into Ino’s shoulder. The words garbled together, but Ino knew enough Sayo-talk that she could guess at the meaning.

“Mika,” Ino murmured, scanning the ground until she saw Shikamaru helping the blond woman stand. His Genin stood with weapons ready between them and the doctor, who was still beating Naruto to bits. Somehow Sayo’s rabbit got caught on one of the spirals, and it sailed through the air with every stroke. Sometimes it looked like it shielded Naruto from the doctor’s blows, but it must not have given much protection because blood still ran down Naruto’s body in small rivers. It worried Ino that he hadn’t broken free yet. Come to think of it, his infamously fast healing rate hadn’t kicked in either. “Chouji, help Naruto,” ordered Ino as she moved towards Shikamaru and Mika. Once she gave Sayo back, she would be free to come to his aid, too.

Chouji nodded and ran at the doctor, his three Genin shadowing him. They weren’t going to be a match for the bat insignia shinobi, but she didn’t call them back, and Chouji didn’t tell them to stay behind. She hoped they’d last long enough for her to get there. Shikamaru was doing what he could to help from a distance now that Mika was off the ground. His shadow whipped around, trying to find an enemy shadow to ensnare, but he couldn’t differentiate friend from foe at this distance since Chouji and his Genin engaged the enemy, thus entangling their shadows together. Two of the black shinobi left Naruto to intercept Chouji and his three Genin, leaving two to keep Naruto on the ground. Chouji bowled one over while his students took on the remaining one. As Ino predicted, the enemy fighter toyed with the Genin, blocking their attacks and only swiping at them with a short sword to drive them back. They didn’t have enough training or experience under their belts to give him even a little trouble. Shikamaru tried to help, but the Genin were all over the place, their shadows entwining with the enemy’s, leaving him with no clear marker.

_I need to get out there,_ thought Ino as she stumbled over to Mika and Shikamaru. “Mika, take her,” she said, passing Sayo over. The child’s arms wrapped around her mother’s neck, and she sobbed her unhappiness.

As she readied herself to run over the rough terrain to aid Chouji’s team, Shikamaru grabbed her arm. “Watch yourself,” he warned, holding her still with his dark gaze. “I can’t help you like this.”

“I know. I can handle this many.” Maybe this wasn’t the place for arrogance, but if she couldn’t take down one or two enemy shinobi, even if they were Jounin level, then what were the past few years of training for? She deserved whatever punishment the enemy rained down on her if she couldn’t do this. Removing Shikamaru’s hand from her arm, she withdrew two kunai and ran at the Jounin fighting Chouji’s Genin.

The children were breathing hard from exertion and nerves while the black shinobi seemed to be as fresh as when the encounter started. He hadn’t made any life-threatening injuries to them, only cuts here and there, but it was taking its toll on the Genin. The enemy was going for another slice at the boy with glasses, but Ino slid between the two of them, catching his sword on her kunai, and knocked his feet out from under him with her legs. As he fell, she pounced, knocking his sword away and cutting his throat open in the same move. He died without a sound.

Turning around to face the doctor and Naruto, Ino saw that Chouji had chased the remaining shinobi away from Naruto, so all that remained was Dr. Kyle. Naruto should have gotten away already once the shinobi pinning him down disappeared, but Ino saw with a sinking heart that the man was unconscious. It didn’t stop the doctor from beating him with the now blood-slicked spiral. Ino sprinted at the standing man and tackled him, removing him from Naruto. From the angle she tackled him, he should’ve been the one skidding on the ground, but the man was more agile than she gave him credit for. Using his blood-spattered glasses to shine sunlight into her eyes, he blinded her and used her momentary distraction to change positions with her so that Ino’s back scraped the ground. When they stopped moving, Dr. Kyle sprang away from her. The outstretched spiral extended Sayo’s rabbit at Ino, and Ino saw that once this was all over, Sayo would never get her rabbit back. The pattern on its belly was still intact, but everywhere else was ripped and blood-stained. The stuffing was coming out, an eye was missing, and one of its forepaws was only hanging on by a thread. Seeing Sayo’s constant companion reduced to such a state made Ino see red. It didn’t matter that it was an inanimate object; it was just as much a part of the family as Sayo was. With a roar, Ino threw herself at her waiting opponent.

The rush of adrenaline gave her the speed boost she needed to avoid the spiral and the swinging rabbit. The man was no shinobi, but he was faster than Ino expected, both with his attacks and his defensive maneuvers. He only used that spiral as a weapon, but he gave Ino no openings for a fatal blow. She lunged forward, aiming for his dominant arm, but his spiral was there to block her, keeping her kunai lodged between the rungs. The rabbit swung past her face, its one-eyed gaze staring accusingly at her like she was to blame for the state it was in. Ducking under the toy, she blocked a kick with her raised leg and followed up with a side kick of her own that connected. The doctor caught himself midair and cart wheeled to a stop.

The two held a staring match while the fighting continued around them. “You are one persistent little roach, aren’t you?” Dr. Kyle sneered.

“Coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment,” panted Ino. The constant movement with no rest had her lungs protesting, so she took advantage of the lull while she could. Her anger still burned as hot as ever, though. “How could you do all this to Sakura? You lived with her for over four years! Didn’t that mean anything to you?”

The smirk he gave her made her want to snap him in half even more than before. “How could living with a puppet mean anything? I needed an excuse to get into Konoha, and she happened to be my ticket in. She’s been under a light hypnosis this whole time.” He shook his head. “She’ll remember being with me, but not why she chose to. Not exactly a solid foundation for a lasting relationship, is it?”

If anyone deserved to live like that for so long, it wasn’t Sakura. Dr. Kyle seemed to sense that he pushed Ino’s buttons and rushed her just as she sprang forward. Their weapons locked once again, and Ino ducked under the sailing bunny only to receive a punch right in the face. She flew backwards and rolled to a stop. When she got her bearings again, she looked just in time to see the spiral and the toy bunny flying at her. Time slowed as she watched their approach and knew she couldn’t avoid it. The rabbit’s remaining eye seemed to glow red, and the feather outline on its stomach lit up like there was a fire inside. The spiral and the rabbit collided with her body, and Ino’s whole world became fiery pain.

Everything from the tips of her hair to the soles of her feet felt like hot coals burned into them. She writhed on the ground, shrieking in agony. The only reason she didn’t fall unconscious from the pain was after the initial shock, she felt as though she were in an out-of-body experience. At the moment, she felt her body moving against the ground, heard her own voice growing hoarse because of the prolonged screams, and knew that any minute, she would feel it fully and not through the watery haze that stood between her conscious mind and the pain. When that protective haze disappeared, the kunoichi almost passed out from the pain. Every chakra coil burned, sending white-hot lances of pain through the constant burn.

Two sets of feet landed just in front of her. With their backs to her, Shikamaru and Chouji crouched at the ready, weapons drawn, between her and the approaching doctor. Even as her body convulsed from whatever the spiral did to her, she forced her eyes on the enemy and was surprised to see his surprise. He stopped a good distance away from her and her teammates, but he didn’t need to come any closer since his objective was right by his feet. Kneeling, he picked up the spiral with attached rabbit and examined it with a smile. “Well, who would have thought?” he wondered aloud as he turned the spiral so Ino could see. “I thought for sure that Naruto was the one with the feather lending him all that power. Instead it was inside the roach who never stood out at all.”

The tip of the spiral impaled what looked like the feather design on Sayo’s rabbit’s stomach, but this feather wasn’t made of stitches. The soft, white edges glowed with a pink aura that matched color of the flowing heart design in its center. Though she was far from Dr. Kyle and the feather, Ino could feel the power pulsing from it. _That thing was inside me?_ The doctor’s words seemed to imply that was the case, but for the life of her, Ino couldn’t remember swallowing a feather or having one stuffed inside her. If Dr. Kyle was after Naruto because he thought his power came from the feather, then that must mean the feather gave its container power, which meant she had to have acquired it at some point after she left Konoha because she left in order to obtain power that she didn’t have back then.

In front of her, Chouji growled, sounding very much like one of the Inuzuka’s dogs. “Give that back to her,” he demanded as he moved his kunai to a more offensive position. His aggressive display projected his intention to attack should the doctor not comply.

“It wasn’t hers to begin with,” Dr. Kyle replied, taking his gaze off the glowing feather. “The power of this feather doesn’t belong in this world.” He reached forward to pluck the feather off the spiral.

Chouji shot forward, Shikamaru a split second behind him thanks to his leg slowing him down. Ino cried out and tried to follow them, but her body convulsed, robbing her of mastery of her own muscles. She tried to at least watch them, but even her vision wavered. Despite her handicaps, she saw them engage the doctor before he could remove the feather from the spiral. The two shinobi circled the doctor, studying him just like he studied the two of them. Chouji feinted to the left as Shikamaru performed a leg sweep from below, but the doctor evaded them both, leaving Chouji to scramble away to avoid being hit by his partner. The shadow user threw a shuriken at Dr. Kyle, but the man deflected it with the spiral and changed its course so Shikamaru was the one who had to dodge his returned weapon. As they moved from testing to true combat, Ino had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. _He’s playing with them._ The doctor she fought head-to-head with was toying with her two teammates. Dr. Kyle watched the two of them with a lazy smile and moved around the rough terrain with a languid grace while the Akimichi and Nara wore fierce expressions as they fought to get the feather. The doctor knew that and while he didn’t have the time to grab it from the spiral, he didn’t allow them any chance to grab it, either.

Breathing hard, Shikamaru shook loose hair from his face and made another attempt at the feather while Chouji had the spiral occupied with blocking his kunai. The doctor should’ve been no match for Chouji in a weapon lock like this; the thin man didn’t have the capacity to pack as much power as an Akimichi. However, not only did he not budge in the face of Chouji’s strength, he was able to keep his balance on one leg while the other shot out and nailed Shikamaru in the stomach. The Jounin went flying backwards and rolled to a stop. “Shikamaru,” whispered Ino as she tried to get her arms under her so she could crawl to his side. Her little whisper was drowned out by the dismayed cries of his Genin, who she prayed were guarding Lochia-dono, Mika, and Sayo. If she’d been able, she would’ve screamed his name like they did, but it appeared that her voice had disappeared with all her earlier abuse. With much difficulty, she wormed her way over to her downed teammate.

To her relief, Shikamaru was already struggling to rise by the time she made it over. His uniform was stained with dirt and blood, and he glared murder at Dr. Kyle as his shaky limbs threatened to topple him back onto the ground. “Shikamaru,” wheezed Ino as she stopped next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Her heart ached to see him like this.

His sharp eyes took in her irregular breathing, the muscle spasms that still rippled over her body, her bloodied back thanks to her tussle with Dr. Kyle. If she’d thought he was angry before, the killing intent that he projected when he faced the doctor again put his previous aura to shame. “Stay here,” he commanded, then he was off again to close with the doctor and Chouji.

Ino couldn’t believe what happened in the next few minutes. After Shikamaru rejoined the fight, it followed the same pattern as before, the doctor holding the other two at bay and making them dodge their partner’s attacks. Shikamaru and Chouji were breathing heavily by this time, and the doctor had beads of sweat rolling down his face. The dirty glasses hung askew on his face, and Ino was surprised he could see anything through them with everything that was caked onto the glass. Chouji closed in with his kunai and locked Dr. Kyle’s spiral so neither one of them could move their weapons. The doctor just smirked and reached up. Since Chouji was putting all his strength into keeping the spiral still, he didn’t have any room to stop him. With a sinking heart, Ino saw Dr. Kyle pluck the feather off the end of the spiral.

Several things happened at once. Now that the doctor didn’t have to be vigilant about Chouji or Shikamaru getting the feather, he stopped his careful dance with them. Sidestepping to the right, he let Chouji’s weight carry him forward and past the doctor. When he stumbled to catch himself, Dr. Kyle whipped the spiral around and, before Ino could attempt any sort of warning, stabbed Chouji through a chink in his armor, driving the weapon all the way through his body. At the same time, Shikamaru sprinted forward from behind the doctor and, while the doctor’s attention was on Chouji, snatched the feather from his grip. He would have continued on and reached Ino, but because of all the stress he’d put on his body, his bad leg collapsed under him, and he fell in a heap not two feet from his opponent and fallen teammate.

Dr. Kyle was not pleased with the theft of the feather. Yanking out the spiral from Chouji’s convulsing body and, to Ino’s horror, pulling out bits of his insides along with it, he took the two steps that put him beside Shikamaru. The doctor rolled him onto his back with his foot and looked into Shikamaru’s grimacing face. This was normally where the villain in a story would make some long monologue about how pitiful the hero was and how all his efforts were wasted and more drivel along those lines. And then, in the stories, a miracle happens, and the hero overcomes all odds, defeats the villain, and saves the day. In stories, everyone, aside from the villain, gets a happily-ever-after. Unfortunately, this was not a story. It was reality, and reality is much crueler than bedtime stories. Villains don’t make long-winded speeches and give the hero enough time to make a comeback. Heroes don’t always make the miraculous save and live happily-ever-after with the heroine. This villain looked down at Shikamaru on the ground and, without a word or change in expression, cut him open from hip to shoulder.


	20. Chapter 20

If Ino’s voice was still working, she would’ve screamed herself hoarse. Because she could not, she channeled all her energy into trying to stand so she could kill the man who just cut down both her teammates. There would be time to mourn and fall apart later; right now, she had to focus on bringing down the enemy. Tinges of red appeared around the periphery of her vision, but she kept her gaze trained on the doctor who now knelt beside her gasping boyfriend.

A blast of energy in the shape of a blue dragon shot towards the doctor, but Dr. Kyle was able to jump away before he was injured. The dragon narrowly missed hitting Shikamaru, causing Ino to hiss and turn her head just enough to see who was so careless. When she saw Kurogane and Fye approach with Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona in tow, the tiny, rational part of her brain told her that if it had been anyone else, the dragon would’ve hit Shikamaru, and it was only thanks to Kurogane’s expertise that it did not.

Dr. Kyle narrowed his eyes at the newcomers and scowled. His gaze darted between Kurogane’s group and the downed Shikamaru, judging if he could get to the missed feather before they could reach him. Ino was dismissed completely. She should’ve been offended, but she was shaking so badly just from rising to a crouch that she was in no position to be threatening anyone. Fye, Syaoran, and Kurogane stepped between her and Dr. Kyle, clearly defensive positions, while Sakura and Mokona hovered over Ino. The girl’s emerald eyes looked over Ino in a worried fashion, but Ino kept her gaze on Shikamaru and Dr. Kyle. The man’s mood appeared to be getting blacker by the second, and even though she had no way of getting between him and Shikamaru if he chose to lash out at the man just at his feet, she would make the attempt anyway.

In an attempt to regain his former composure, the doctor took a deep breath and tried to smile at the newcomers. The action looked like it pained him. “Once again, you arrive just in time to prevent me from getting what I need.”

Ino couldn’t see their faces, but she could feel the animosity directed at Dr. Kyle from the men in front of her. “You won’t get away with this one,” rumbled Kurogane as he adjusted his grip on his sword. “There’s not enough time if you grab the feather.”

Dr. Kyle’s expression hardened again. With hazy vision, Ino saw him prepare himself to dart forward and snatch the feather from Shikamaru’s grasp, but Kurogane and Syaoran were already in motion. The two of them reached the doctor before he had time to lunge forward. Kurogane’s sword descended towards his head while Syaoran’s angled upward from his legs, forcing Dr. Kyle to change his position so he could defend himself with two surgical knives. The man was able to stop the two blades, but he couldn’t block Syaoran’s follow up roundhouse and stumbled away from the blow.

Ino’s vision faded in and out, and the battle between the three became snapshots instead of a continuous flow. Somewhere near her head, she heard Mokona’s worried whimpers, and she felt someone kneel beside her. Her vision had gone black, so she couldn’t tell who it was. “You don’t look well, Hikari,” Fye’s voice floated through the darkness. He sounded as concerned as Mokona. “What did he do to you?”

“The feather,” panted Ino as she fought to regain her eyesight. “That…was inside my body. He threw…a metal spiral at me, and a feather…came out of me.” Now she could see Fye’s serious visage in front of her. “Please…Shikamaru…Chouji…save them.” She could hardly hear her own voice over the noise of battle all around.

The fight between Kurogane, Syaoran, and Dr. Kyle reached a standstill with the defenders between Dr. Kyle and Shikamaru. Both sides had seen better days, but Dr. Kyle had seen more combat that day and appeared to be more worn down than the other two. His breathing, so easy when he ran circles around Shikamaru and Chouji, sounded labored and wheezy. The clothes he wore were ragged, and long strips of white showed through his coat. Some of the white was stained red where one of the other combatants drew blood. While he appeared to be worse for wear, the other two showed no sign of the struggle they’d engaged in aside from increased breathing and sweat marks and dirt stains on their clothes. Syaoran had a long score down his non dominant arm where the doctor had gotten in a lucky strike. Kurogane looked like he’d just come from a training session with Ino. “Are you still willing to try to beat us?” asked Ino’s temporary instructor as he brought his sword into a ready stance. The younger boy at his side did the same, a determined look on his face.

The dark-haired doctor looked from the two of them down to Shikamaru behind them and back. Ino thought he’d keep trying since he’d put in so much effort already, but instead he backed away from them. “It appears you win this round,” he snarled and glared at them. “Next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

“Luck had nothing to do with this,” Fye responded from Ino’s side, his usual smile still in place, though his eyes were cold. “Let your master know that we will come for him soon.”

Dr. Kyle gave them one last, angry look before darting away from them and out of Ino’s line of sight. Of course, she was less interested in the route he took and more interested in the failing condition of Shikamaru. As fast as Sakura could take her, the two of them approached the fallen man while the others approached the still forms of Chouji and Naruto. Ino worried about the other men, too, but Shikamaru was fading before her eyes; Chouji hadn’t moved since the doctor ran him through, and neither had Naruto. “Shikamaru,” she whispered, trying to call up any sort of medical jutsu, but her chakra coils refused to cooperate.

He opened his closed eyes at the sound of his name with a grimace. “Hey,” he tried to greet her, but too much fluid in his lungs choked the words.

Despair filled the kunoichi. Already the death rattle sounded from his chest, and his eyes were losing focus. “Don’t you dare die on me, Shikamaru,” she growled at him, falling to the ground by his side as Sakura let her go. “I’ll drag your soul back kicking and screaming if you try.” _I need another medic. My chakra won’t form…I’m going to lose him at this rate…_ It took all she had not to show her thoughts.

Shikamaru’s lips lifted in a half-smile. “Troublesome woman,” he tried to say, but the mumbled words were lost in the rasp that escaped instead.

A heavy thump caused Ino to glance up, and she saw Misao removing her gloves and putting her hands over Shikamaru’s temples. Her hands were covered with a medic’s green aura, and Ino’s heart jumped in her chest. _She can save him!_ But her jubilation was short-lived as Misao’s frown remained on her face and Shikamaru’s breathing continued to get worse. “Why isn’t he getting better?” Ino demanded. “He should show some signs of improvement by now!” It wasn’t right to yell at Misao when she was doing the best she could, but Ino’s nerves were shot to pieces, as were her manners.

The green aura around Misao’s hands winked out, and she fell backwards onto her heels. Instead of answering Ino, she looked at the white Mokona behind Ino and said, “I can’t keep him alive with just my field training. He’ll be too far gone for our medic-nin to save him by the time they get here.” Before Ino could deny it, the older kunoichi caught her gaze. “We’re sending you back to the Dimension Witch, and you are going to beg for their lives. You’re their only hope of pulling through this. Mokona, send her.”

Mokona bounced up and opened its mouth wide…wider…wider still. The same markings that took Ino to the Dimension Witch the first time lit up around her feet, and she felt air pulling her toward Mokona, whose mouth was now wide enough to fit her body when before its own body was only the size of her lower leg. The markings made of light folded around her and forced her toward Mokona’s open maw. Somewhere behind her, she recognized a few screams and, from the corner of her eye, saw Lochia-dono and Mika looking towards her with horror and open mouths. That brief glimpse was all she had time for before Mokona closed its mouth around her and swallowed her whole.

When the light faded, she found herself in the yard of that strange, little house surrounded by towering skyscrapers. Her chakra backlash still wracked her body with pain, but she crawled on her hands and knees to the front door. The boy with dual eye colors didn’t open the door for her, but she was able to push herself up far enough that she could twist the doorknob and fall into the foyer. She counted herself lucky that the front door wasn’t locked. “Yuuko-san?” called Ino as she dragged herself down the short hallway and into the open room to the left. Her voice was high-pitched and tight, but she was on a time schedule. Every second wasted was a second taken away from her comrades’ lives.

Sitting on a cushion by a low table, Yuuko-san watched with impassive eyes as Ino crawled across the floor toward her. Pale hands set a porcelain teacup down on the table when Ino was within arms’ reach. The kunoichi on the floor grabbed the hem of Yuuko-san’s dress and tugged to get her attention, though the woman wasn’t looking anywhere else but at her. “Please, help them,” panted Ino. Her strength was leaving her faster than she was able to afford, but she wasn’t going to expire without getting her message across. “My village…we were attacked. My teammates, my friends, they are dying...” Her lungs couldn’t get enough air, and she had to stop just to breathe.

Instead of answering, the black-haired woman reached down and pulled Ino up so she rested on a cushion by the table. For such a weak-looking person, Yuuko-san had some upper-body strength to haul Ino up without help and make it look easy. Pushing a second porcelain cup with a phoenix design towards Ino’s shaking hands, Yuuko-san waited for her to pick it up and leaned back. “Misao told me about what happened in Konoha,” she told Ino as she maneuvered the cup to her lips. “Apparently they were after the feather inside you, but Syaoran and his team were able to fend them off.”

If the situation wasn’t as dire, Ino would’ve asked more about the feather and why anyone was after it, but her friends were dying as she sat there drinking tea! “A lot of my friends and villagers were hurt during the attack. Please help them. I will pay the price, no matter what it is.”

Yuuko-san’s next words stopped her cold. “This is what you wished for.” Before Ino could retort that no, this was **_not_** what her wish was, Yuuko-san continued. “When you came to me earlier, you wished to be the strongest shinobi in your world so you could protect your village. Tell me, what makes a village? How many people must survive in order for Konohagakure to still be considered a village?”

Theoretically, as long as one person survives, then the village wouldn’t die, but as to an exact number to keep the village going in the eyes of the rest of the world, Ino didn’t know. However, Yuuko-san saw her answer and spoke again. “The other part of your wish was to be the strongest shinobi. Due to the training you received, your body reached its maximum potential. It is possible for you to learn new tricks, but in terms of strength, you have already reached your upper limit. I’m sure you noticed that you can now do things that you could not previously do because you lacked the strength then. Most of that is your strength, but part of that was also due to using soldier pills without dying. When shinobi use the soldier pills, they can’t use too many because the pills have toxic metabolites. The feather that came from your body acted as a toxin filter, which was why you didn’t die after ingesting so many soldier pills. In theory, this allows you to have limitless energy, so given enough time, you could defeat any enemy.”

This was also true. Before, there was no way she could have taken Sakura on one-on-one in a taijutsu match, not after her training with Tsunade-sama, but she was able to take her down before she killed Kureha, and she didn’t die from the multiple soldier pills she used afterward. And then when she ran afoul of the Hyuuga when she was trying to read Takeru, she was able to walk away from two members of a clan who prided themselves on their taijutsu. More recently, she saw how skilled Dr. Kyle was when he fought with Shikamaru and Chouji, but she was able to fight him on even ground while he ran circles around her two teammates, who used to be much better in physical fights than she was. “So why wasn’t I able to protect them?” she demanded. “If I’m so strong, why couldn’t I save them?”

Yuuko-san didn’t even blink in the face of Ino’s anger. “Not everyone has the same potential. You have reached yours, so you are stronger than most people of your world, but there are those whose max potential is above yours. I’ve heard of the Jinchuuriki in Konoha and seen him a few times. He has not reached his max potential, yet his current strength far surpasses yours. Even if you kept taking soldier pills in a one-on-one match, you would not be able to beat him. He is not alone in this regard, so in order for your wish to be granted, he cannot live. You will find that others around the world will have accidents or missions going wrong and will be unable to make a recovery. Only a few people will fall into this category, but it will be enough to possibly throw the whole shinobi world order into chaos.”

_I didn’t want this._ It never occurred to her that this sort of thing would happen. For a long time, she’d taken for granted Naruto’s unmatchable strength and didn’t even think that surpassing him was possible. Even with her wish, she’d assumed that he’d still be there to defend their homeland, cheerful and optimistic as ever. But she knew that if she were in a fight with Shikamaru, she would come out on top. His strength wasn’t greater than hers, and she could probably beat Chouji, too.

She opened her mouth to ask, but she was interrupted when the sliding door on the other side of the room slid open. The two girls from before walked in, both wearing identical, sad faces. “Watanuki is in pain,” the pink-haired girl murmured.

“Watanuki is in pain,” echoed the pig-tailed girl. Their eyes reflected how worried they were.

“Has he woken up?” Yuuko-san asked, her eyes now as worried as theirs. They shook their heads no, and the Dimension Witch sighed. “Stay by his side,” she told them, taking their hands. “And call Doumeki here; he’ll be able to help ease the pain.”

The two girls wandered back through the door, and Yuuko-san turned back to Ino. “Watanuki paid part of your price,” she told her. “When the feather left your body, all the toxins it had been suppressing returned to your bloodstream and should have killed you. Thanks to him, all you’ve experienced is to this extent.”

“Will he be okay?” asked Ino, momentarily diverted from her line of thinking thanks to this new development.

“We can only pray. He balances the line of life and death now.”

“Why would he do that? Why would he put his life on the line for someone he doesn’t even know?” They’d only met the one time, and she hadn’t even been in his presence for more than five minutes.

Yuuko-san’s unreadable, red eyes stared into Ino’s brown ones. “He is a kind boy, and he knows you are a friend of Syaoran’s. He also has a special sense of when important events will happen. When he felt that something was going to happen to you, he asked to pay the price to save your life. This was the best he could do.”

Great, now she had another person’s life on the line because of her. “What do I have to do to save them? To save everyone?”

“I’m afraid you can’t. That would directly go against the original wish you made.”

That brought her back to the other question. “Not even my teammates? I’m stronger than they are. That wouldn’t go against anything!”

Yuuko-san sighed. “There are different types of strength, just as there are different types of people. For some, such as the Konoha Jinchuuriki, he gains his strength by defending his friends and having them fight beside him. Then there are others, such as yourself, who can’t bring out your full potential if your friends are by your side.”

That was the most ridiculous thing Ino had ever heard. “My friends make me stronger! How dare you say they weaken me!”

The pale woman ignored her outburst. Without changing expression, she continued. “When you were by yourself, you were able to do things that you didn’t think were possible, even with your strength. However, when your friends were around, you relied on them to do the work. You knew they would get the job done, so you didn’t have to push yourself as hard. It’s the same attitude you had before you left Konoha to become stronger. Out there, you didn’t have friends to rely on to back you up in a fight. You either succeeded or you failed, but it was only you.”

Ino wanted to deny it, deny everything Yuuko-san said, but when she said point-blank what Ino was like, something wrenched in her gut. It wasn’t indignation, anger that she was unjustly being accused of such behavior. It wasn’t scorn that this noncombatant didn’t know what she was talking about and was just pulling for any possible explanation. It was guilt. Ino hadn’t wanted to face what Yuuko-san had just described, and she’d buried that knowledge so deep that she wouldn’t have to. But now that someone brought it up and laid the facts out on the table, Ino couldn’t say that it wasn’t true. When Shikamaru said he couldn’t rely on Ino as a teammate, it was because she let him and the rest of the team do the brunt work while she stayed in the back. Sure, she’d come forward on occasion, but she didn’t face the same breed of opponents that her teammates did. It was also the unacknowledged reason she put off letting her shinobi friends know about her for so long. Tsunade-sama never said she had to do this alone, but she chose to keep them in the dark for as long as she could. Deep down, she knew what would happen if she had someone familiar to rely on for help. Even when she was in her Hikari persona, there were times when she relaxed her guard because she knew Chouji or Shikamaru were nearby and would have her back if she got into trouble.

Though everything Yuuko-san said was true, Ino wasn’t going to let her friends die. She wasn’t going to let Shikamaru die. “I have a wish I want granted.”

Yuuko-san narrowed her red eyes slightly. “There is a price to pay.”

“I’m willing to pay any price.” How could she not when she was the cause of all that happened?

“Be careful with those words,” the Dimension Witch warned her. “Some prices are too high for some to pay.”

“I will do anything.” Ino was going to stand by her words. Nothing was going to shake her resolve. “I want to save the villagers and my friends and Watanuki. Being the strongest shinobi has no meaning if they aren’t there to protect.”

The woman rose with grace that Ino would have envied if time and circumstance permitted and pulled Ino to a standing position. “We will go into the yard and communicate with Mokona.”

“What are we going to do?” asked Ino as Yuuko-san towed her back to the front door. “How can we save them?”

The Dimension Witch set her down gently in the middle of the yard and stood before her, a black Mokona bouncing out of the house to stand at her side. A small breeze blew by, waving through Yuuko-san’s long, black hair. Gray clouds covered the sun, sending shadows over the earth below. Outside the gate, pedestrians walked past, talking, laughing, running, but never looking inside at the trio in the yard. Yuuko-san’s gaze held Ino’s. “The feather inside your body originally belonged to Sakura. It’s a physical manifestation of a memory, and it contains enough power that people have fought wars just to have ownership of one. If you give this feather back to her, she will be able to save those inside the village. However,” she crossed her arms in front of her chest, “without that feather, you may never be able to mold chakra again. The toxins inside your body have destroyed your chakra coils. They may still destroy your organs and kill you, but the feather can neutralize them again if you take it back into yourself in time. That child has been known to leave her memories behind when it is a matter of life and death.”

If she couldn’t mold chakra, then Ino couldn’t work as a shinobi, either. Everything she’d worked for her whole life…destroyed in the blink of an eye. Or in the time it took to reach a decision. If she couldn’t be a shinobi, then what did she work so hard for in the past twenty or so years of her life? Why did she leave the village to become stronger when it was all in vain? It was either save her own life or save the lives of her comrades. When it came down to it, there wasn’t even a decision to make. She was a shinobi, chakra or not, and a shinobi’s duty was to give his life for the sake of the village. Yamanaka Ino couldn’t let them die. She couldn’t let Shikamaru die. “Please give the feather to Sakura,” stated the kunoichi with a smile.

Yuuko-san gave a small smile in return and looked down at the black Mokona. “Call the other one,” she ordered. “I’m sure they’re waiting for news.”

The blue jewel on its forehead glowed and projected an image of the other Mokona in the air before it. The Dimension Witch moved so she stood beside Ino and said aloud, “Get me Syaoran and Sakura.”

The two were by the white Mokona in an instant, and Fye, Kurogane, and Misao were behind them. “How is she?” asked Syaoran.

“She is alive,” answered Yuuko-san, glancing down at Ino by her feet. “She says that she is willing to return the feather to Sakura.” Now she addressed Sakura directly, and Ino struggled to remain alert. The toxins in her body were taking a toll on her, and black areas danced around the edges of her vision again. “Sakura, in exchange for granting your wish of regaining your memories, she would like you to grant her wish and heal the people of the village. Are you willing to pay this price?”

Ino saw the girl nod vigorously, a determined look on her face from what she could make out with her fading eyesight. She was sure that there was verbal agreement to go along with the motion, but her hearing was too weak to make out the spoken response. Behind the small group, people ran back and forth to help the injured. Ino wasn’t sure where they were, but she hoped they got to Shikamaru. The angle of the Mokona only showed the upper half of the people, not what was on the ground, which was where he would be if they were still beside him, Chouji, and Naruto.

While Ino was distracted, Yuuko-san seemed to finish up her conversation with the other side because the image winked out. The dazed kunoichi looked up at the Dimension Witch. She could see her mouth moving, but she couldn’t hear the words coming out. The black-haired woman stepped away from Ino, and the golden pattern appeared around her again. Before her vision faded completely, Ino saw Yuuko-san looking at her with kind eyes and a small smile. It was the first and last time she saw that look on her face. Then the golden light swallowed her up, and she lost consciousness.

 

~*~

 

When awareness returned to Ino, the first thing she noted behind closed eyelids was that she was someplace dark. The pale reds that would symbolize light against closed eyes were missing, or else the light was too dim to make the color show. The second thing she noticed was that whatever she was laying on was quite uncomfortable. It was soft, but the sheets – yes, she recognized sheets under her – were scratchy, and hard lumps stuck into her back in a couple places. The blanket covering her body felt much nicer, but it wasn’t enough to offset the discomfort from the rest of the bed. Once she realized how uncomfortable she was, it dawned on her that she wasn’t in pain anymore. A dull throbbing was present all over her body, but it wasn’t that nerve-piercing pain from before.

It took some effort to open her eyes. Her eyelids felt glued together, but she was bound and determined to see where she’d ended up. The fuzzy sight that greeted her once she was successful was the smooth, white surface of the hospital ceiling. In fact, it looked a lot like the one she stayed in with Sakura after she prevented her friend from killing Kureha. With much determination, she rolled her head to the side and saw the pink hair of Sakura in the next bed. She was sleeping, much like Ino had been. Ino’s gaze took in the white that represented the bandages wrapped around her friend’s wrists, and her stomach clenched. _That was because of me,_ she thought. _If I hadn’t made that wish, there’s no way Sakura would’ve…_ But it didn’t matter anymore. The other Sakura agreed to save everyone, and that meant this Sakura, too. But what about Shikamaru? What about Chouji and Naruto? She tried to push herself into a sitting position, but she didn’t move. Frowning, she tried again, but her arms and upper body didn’t budge. A small knot of fear formed as she tried again and again to sit up, but she met with repeated failure.

The door to the hospital corridor outside opened, and two shadows shuffled in. From the unsteady weaving, Ino thought they were drunk and worried that they would do something to Sakura since she was the one closest to the door. _Come on, body, move!_ She yelled at herself. After all the effort to save her, Ino wasn’t going to let Sakura go down like this! Despite her strong will, her body refused to move, and Ino could feel tears of frustration building. Of all the times to be helpless, this was the worst!

However, her fears were unfounded as the stumbling shadows moved right past Sakura’s bed and stopped by her own. Her eyesight was still hazy, but the more time passed, the clearer objects became. The shadowy blobs resolved into people shapes, and by the time they drew chairs up by her bedside, she recognized that one shadow was quite thin while the other one was quite large. Hope blossomed in her chest, chasing the fear away. All her fear dissipated when the thin shadow reached down and brushed her hair off her face with gentle fingers. She knew that touch anywhere. “Shikamaru,” she whispered, her voice barely carrying past her own lips.

Both his and Chouji’s now-visible faces smiled down at her. “Hey, Ino,” her dark-haired teammate responded. “Welcome back. We weren’t sure you were going to make it for a while.”

“How…how long…?” Just talking exhausted her strength.

“Everything happened three weeks ago,” answered Chouji. “We beat back the Earth Country army, and you’ve been in a coma ever since you came back from…wherever you were.”

Shikamaru took up the tale. “That girl with you, she absorbed the feather that was inside you before and,” he shook his head like he still couldn’t believe it, “emitted this bright light from her body. When the light touched me, my wounds closed. I’m pretty sure Chouji was as near death as he could be without actually dying, but when I looked over, he was sitting up and moving around. Naruto and all the others, too.”

A sigh of relief escaped Ino’s lips. “Thank goodness,” she breathed. _My wish was granted._ “You’re both okay?”

They looked at each other, then back at Ino. “Well, we’re alive,” said the largest member of the team. “Everyone who was saved by her power is still weak, but we’re getting better. Naruto’s already running around the village, helping with rebuilding, but the rest of us can still barely walk down the hall.”

“That Naruto has always been a fast healer,” agreed Shikamaru. “The only one we were worried about was you. Hokage-sama wasn’t sure you’d make it.” He trailed off and looked away.

Ino knew what came after that and why he didn’t want to say it. “I still may never mold chakra again,” she finished for him. “Isn’t that right?”

He bit his lip and nodded. It wasn’t a surprise since the Dimension Witch had said as much before Ino made her wish. That knowledge didn’t dull the sting she felt when Shikamaru confirmed it. Mustering up as much of a smile as she could, she said, “I’m just glad that everyone is all right. I wasn’t sure…” She couldn’t voice how frightened she’d been when she saw Chouji stabbed and Shikamaru cut open like he was a fillet. But it didn’t matter now; they were both alive and on the mend.

The two men filled Ino in on what little they could. They weren’t allowed out of the hospital yet; they weren’t even supposed to leave their rooms, so the duo had to wait for Tsunade-sama and Shizune to leave before sneaking out so they could sit with her for a while. Ino wanted to talk with them, make it more of a conversation than a lecture, but it took more strength to talk than it did to listen, so she stayed silent except for a quiet interjection here and there. The kunoichi could see the strain this took on her teammates, too. Shikamaru’s eyes drooped down, and the Akimichi had a definite tremor in his hands the longer he spoke. Not much time passed at all before Chouji patted her hand and rose slowly in an unsteady line. “I know he’s been waiting for this moment for a while,” he responded to Ino’s questioning look. “He even gave you that blanket he always has with him. Said it always kept him safe, so maybe it would do the same for you. I’ll leave you two alone so you can have a private reunion.” He winked at the two of them while Shikamaru spluttered about Chouji keeping his mouth shut and made his way back across the room and closed the door behind him without a sound.

They just stared at each other after Chouji exited the room. What Ino wanted to do was throw herself into Shikamaru’s arms and check him over to assure herself that he really was okay. Even though they told her all the events she remembered were three weeks past, the image of him bleeding to death was still fresh in her mind. Unfortunately for her, she still couldn’t move under her own power and had to be satisfied with what she could see from where she reclined. Unless… “Shikamaru, pick me up?” It was a question because she wasn’t sure how much strength he had. He and Chouji had trouble just walking straight across a room.

With careful hands, he lifted her into a sitting position and sat on the bed behind her so she would be supported by his chest. She couldn’t see him, but she took comfort in the feel of him against her back and his hand as it stroked her hair in an absent-minded way. She thought he would berate her, get angry for once again getting herself into such a state, but he did no such thing. There was no doubt in her mind that if she was in better condition, he would have let her have it. But because she was in this state that pulled at his protective instincts, he was able to hold his comments back. Instead, all he did was stroke her hair. Every once in a while, it felt like he nuzzled the side of her head near her ear, but she wasn’t positive. She didn’t have full control of her five senses yet, and her sense of touch was still dulled.

When Chouji left the room, she’d started feeling anxious, but now she relaxed under Shikamaru’s gentle ministrations. It was a nice feeling, having him touch her like this. She’d been so afraid that she’d never feel his touch again, and that feeling made her savor the moment all the more. “I thought he killed you,” she whispered. “Dr. Kyle cut you so deep…there was so much blood…”

His strokes paused, but then they resumed after a second. “I’ve been in worse situations,” he responded. His breath tickled her ear and sent a shiver down her spine. “You were the one we worried about the most. I didn’t know what that feather was, but Chouji and I thought that if you didn’t have it, you would die. The way you looked when that thing came out of you,” a shudder ran through his body, “I never want to see you like that again.”

“It was the price I had to pay,” she murmured. “Given the chance, I’d do it again to save you and Chouji and everyone else.” In most circumstances, the other protagonist would make some statement that he would never let her be in that sort of situation again because he would protect her, et cetera. However, they were both experienced shinobi, not some shining-eyed Genin fresh from the Academy. No one could guarantee that she would not be a situation where she had to choose between her life and her comrades’ lives. That was the norm in their line of work.

Neither one of them spoke after that. Ino wasn’t sure why Shikamaru stayed silent, but she was too tired to continue talking. Lack of mobility for such a long period of time could be quite tiring! Without another word passing between them, Shikamaru’s soft motions lulled Ino back to sleep.

 

~*~

 

It took a long time before Ino was allowed to leave the hospital. Tsunade-sama wouldn’t let her go due to her chakra coils being in such bad condition, and apparently at one point in time, they’d thought her organs were failing, just like Yuuko-san said might happen. However, thanks to the hard work of some dedicated medic-nin, her organs were saved, and the inflammation of her chakra coils had decreased. The medics weren’t hopeful about the return of her chakra coil function, but Ino had to keep hoping; it was all she had at this point.

Someone, she wasn’t sure who, broke the news to her parents that she was alive, and they’d come swooping in one morning, both openly sobbing, and refused to leave her side. It took some convincing for her father to do missions, but he refused to do any that took him out of the village. Tsunade-sama must have understood and didn’t assign him anymore after his first refusal. It wasn’t worth a clan war. It wasn’t long after that that the news spread, and Ino found herself swamped with visitors. If it wasn’t for the traffic control thanks to her parents, teammates, and Sakura, she was sure Tsunade-sama would’ve put a limit on visitors so she didn’t exhaust herself.

When Ino originally saw Sakura in the bed next to her, she thought that Sakura was still in recovery, but it turned out that Sakura was on the team of medic-nin dedicated to saving Ino’s body when it was failing. The pink-haired kunoichi volunteered to stay in the room with Ino so she could keep an eye on her at all hours and be on hand if something required quick action. The white Ino saw around Sakura’s wrists were sweatbands, not bandages covering the scars from the incident. From time to time, Ino could see the depression take over Sakura, especially at night when it was just the two of them, but it didn’t last, and Ino didn’t see her eyes wander over to the sharp implements in the room or give other signs of a repeat performance. However, shadows had taken up permanent residence in her friend’s eyes, and it didn’t look like they were leaving anytime soon.

While Ino was still in her coma, all the nonresidents of Konoha took their leave. The army and the royal couple of Water Country made their way back home, and Misao’s performance troupe left to find a new venue. From what Ino heard from various sources later, Lochia-dono, Mika, and Sayo were all alive and well. Ino assumed that the two women talked with Toya-dono or else talked things out between the two of them, but in the end, Toya-dono and Lochia-dono returned to Water Country while Mika and Sayo remained with the troupe. No one knew what words were exchanged with whom or if anyone was happy with the arrangement, but they were all out of Ino’s reach now. It upset her that she didn’t get to say good-bye to any of them, but at the same time, she didn’t blame them. No one knew if she would ever wake up, and they all had other things to worry about. Maybe it was better this way, after all. Ino didn’t know how she would’ve approached explaining the situation to Mika. Lochia-dono may have understood, but Mika was not familiar with the ways of the shinobi, and betrayed would probably come closer to what she felt, rather than understanding. Ino still felt a pang in her heart when she thought about her roommate and the child she helped her raise. Sayo wouldn’t even remember her in a few years, but Ino didn’t think she could ever forget the little girl she helped bring into the world.

On the day Tsunade-sama allowed Ino to leave the hospital, the day was beautiful, and the weather was warm on Ino’s pale skin. Summer was already here, and Ino welcomed it with open arms. After years of only ice and snow, the sun and the heat it provided were as welcome as could be. She couldn’t wait to step out and bask in the sunlight. Her bags, filled with everything her parents thought she could possibly need while in the hospital, were already downstairs, so she took one last look out the open window and made her slow way down the stairs. Even after long sessions of physical therapy, she had to be careful because quick movement would trigger shooting pangs throughout her body.

A smile lit up her face when she saw Shikamaru leaning against the wall next to her bags in the lobby. His expression went from bored to warm when he saw her hugging the staircase railing and walking down one step at a time. He was there with her while she went through her strength-training exercises so her legs could support her weight again, and he was there when she cried tears of frustration that she couldn’t walk from the hospital bed to the door. Shikamaru knew what an accomplishment walking down the stairs was for her. “You ready?” he asked when she reached him.

Ino gave him a quick kiss and an excited smile. “I’ve been ready!” she declared. Hokage-sama was willing to give her apartment back to her, but since Ino was in no condition to be living on her own, she was going back home so her parents could keep an eye on her. It made Ino sad that she wouldn’t be able to see Shikamaru every day like she did when she was Hikari, but it wasn’t right to ask him to care for her and work as a full-time shinobi. It wasn’t even possible to do both at the same time. She would have to be content with the small chunks of time she’d get to spend with him on his rare free time.

With Shikamaru carrying her bags, they made their slow way through Konoha. A lot of the damage done by the clashing armies was erased, but every so often, Ino saw a bit of roof that hadn’t been fixed yet or a fence that was still broken and had the scorch marks visible. The memories those signs brought made Ino frown, but she pushed aside her melancholy. She’d have plenty more time to be sad over missing Mika, Sayo, and everyone else from the troupe. If she missed them that much, then she could always look for them once she recovered. The only ones who were almost certainly missing from her life for good were the five travelers from a different world. Chouji told her in great detail how they disappeared much like she did in an envelope of patterned light and were swallowed by the white Mokona, who then disappeared also. They left no trace of themselves behind, so Ino could only rely on her memories to prove that they existed here at all.

Her boyfriend seemed to sense her depressed mood and nudged her when she paused beside the blackened gate. “You should be more excited about leaving the hospital,” he said. “You couldn’t wait to get out before. Where did all that energy go?”

“Sorry,” she apologized with a small smile. “I am glad to be out of there.” It took a small amount of effort, but she put her thoughts aside for a later time.

Their meandering path led them past Shikamaru’s apartment, and Ino was several steps ahead of Shikamaru by the time she realized he’d stopped. “Shikamaru? Are you okay?” she asked as she turned around. He’d done a good deal of damage to himself in the battle against Earth Country, and his leg still acted up every once in a while. “Do you want to rest for a bit?” He should’ve let her take a few bags. Why didn’t he ask Chouji to help him with this?

“I’m fine for now,” he assured her, but he was already walking up the path to his apartment. The keys jingled in his fumbling fingers. “I forgot to get something. Come on inside for a bit.”

_What could you need that you couldn’t get it after dropping everything off?_ she wondered as she followed him through the door. It wasn’t like she expected him to stay since he still had to take care of his Genin, and he’d mentioned earlier that he had to take them out to get some training in later today. _Maybe he’s going to the training grounds right after taking me back._ The clear sound of bells followed by a loud thud and cursing gave credence to that theory. Ino would never forget the sound of those bells when Asuma-sensei had them work together to relieve him of both bells. It was good training, and she’d come to see that, but that didn’t mean she had to like reminders of it. “Shikamaru, you could’ve just left my bags by the door,” she called while adjusting a picture frame she’d put up during her stay. The man had just wandered straight back towards the bedroom with his arms still full of her bags.

“I think I’m going to need a bit of help back here,” he shouted back. His voice sounded muffled, like he was calling through a blanket.

Ino sighed, but a fond smile slipped onto her face as she made her way to the back. “Honestly, what are you doing…” she trailed off as she turned into the area where her room used to be. His bedroom door was closed, so he had to be in the other room. When she stood in the doorway and looked in, she gasped and brought a hand to her mouth. Instead of the simple furniture that Shikamaru got for her to use as a temporary room, the bedroom set she had in her own apartment when she worked as a shinobi sat in its stead. Her lacy, purple curtains hung over the open windows and blew gently in the small breeze created by the ceiling fan. Walking forward on stilted legs, she ran her hand over the satin comforter on top of the bed and turned to Shikamaru, who stood by the dresser without her bags. Those were lined up at his feet. Her boyfriend looked nervous, like he didn’t know how she would respond. Ino didn’t know how to respond either. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“I was hoping that you would stay,” mumbled the shadow user, rubbing the back of his neck like he always did when he was uncomfortable. He wouldn’t look at her. “I wouldn’t expect things to be the same as before, but you seemed to like it here.” Shikamaru hesitated like he didn’t know what to say next.

“What about my parents?” Ino prompted him. “They’re expecting me to stay with them.”

Now he seemed to gain some confidence. “I’ve already talked it over with them. It took a lot of talking, but your mother agreed if you did.”

“So Dad didn’t have a choice,” Ino finished for him. If Inoichi’s wife agreed to it, then the head of the clan could not go against it. For such a small woman who had no experience as a shinobi, she wielded a lot of power. That didn’t mean Inoichi would be happy about the arrangement, but he wouldn’t voice it in front of his wife.

They were quiet for a while, and Shikamaru shifted his feet uncomfortably. Ino could see the anxiety radiating off him. If her parents already knew, then her main worry was taken care of. Before she could say anything, Shikamaru asked, “So, what do you think? Do you want to stay here, or would you rather stay at your family’s compound?”

“I’d love to stay, but that’s too much of a burden on you,” she answered after another moment of silence. “Tsunade-sama only let me go because I have someone to watch over me most of the time, and you still have your duties to attend to.”

The man shook his head. “I told Tsunade-sama that I’m taking on fewer duties. As long as Chouji and I work something out so one of us is always with you, she said she’ll accept it. But don’t feel like you have to stay if you’d rather not,” he hastened to assure her. “I’ll understand if you want your own space.”

Well, that was a lie if she ever heard one. The blonde knew that she’d hurt him quite a bit if she decided to ignore all the effort he went through for her. Lucky for him, she had no intention of turning him down. Her parents had been glued to her hip when she was at the hospital, and as much as she loved them and loved being around them again, the close proximity reminded her of how happy she’d been to move out and get away from their overbearing presence. Stepping into his space and pulling him into a hug, she whispered, “Thank you, Shikamaru. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m glad you’re here with me.”

His arms closed around her back, and she felt the relieved sigh leave his lungs. “I never thought the day would come when Yamanaka Ino called my home hers, too,” he murmured into her hair.

“Well, it’s here now,” she giggled and cuddled into his chest.

Giving her a squeeze, he chuckled with her. “I guess dreams do come true.”

_Sometimes,_ her thoughts responded, and she was glad that he couldn’t see her face as it fell with the thought. Her dream of being strong enough to protect her village came true in a way, but she would never have the physical strength to fight enemies back like Naruto could, and she couldn’t save anyone like Sakura could with medical ninjutsu because she may never be able to use chakra again. _Stop that!_ Ino scolded herself for that line of thinking at such a moment. _This is a whole new start for me. Like Yuuko-san said, there are different types of strength. I don’t need physical strength or chakra to be strong. I can be strong in my resolve to keep going so that one day, I will have physical strength and chakra again._ She glanced into the mirror beside them and saw how thin her limbs were. Little of the muscle she’d built over the years remained thanks to the work of those soldier pill toxins. It didn’t matter. She would just keep working until she got that muscle back and could protect her loved ones instead of settling for the position of protected. “I’ve got a long way to go,” she said aloud.

Shikamaru seemed to know what she was talking about. “You know I’ll be right by you the whole way,” he promised, resting his forehead against hers.

With her newfound goal and her steadfast support at her side, Yamanaka Ino was ready for the next phase of her life. High times, hard times, it didn’t matter. She was going to conquer what life threw at her, and Shikamaru would be with her as her support and her pillar of strength. It wouldn’t be easy, but who said any of this would be easy? The shinobi world called people strong that could overpower any opponent. Well, let the world come, and Ino would show them a different meaning to the term “to be strong”.


End file.
